Little Mexican Suite Movement 3: Sahuaro (performed by the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble) by Randall Standridge published on 2022-12-05T21:04:47Z Program Notes: Ever since I was a child, I have been very interested in traditional Mexican Music. It has always captured my attention. I used to really get excited to hear a danzón or a son jarocho, and, fortunately, that interest has become a fundamental part of my artistic work. Most of my works contain a national, and often regional root. As is well-known, Mexican music has many branches, ranging from danzón to mariachi. When Dr. Messier approached me, I was immediately overcome by the urge to compose a Suite for Symphonic Band inspired by popular Mexican genres. Almost naturally, the themes for each movement began to appear, and in short time I had developed them all. It was clear to me that each should be different. I did not want to repeat any genre. Music chooses the composer and takes its own course and as expected, these movements were connecting with each other, one appearing in another as reminiscences of the past, as light brushstrokes, on occasions hidden and at time very exposed. Little Mexican Suite for Winds is based on traditional Mexican musical genres that are very popular in my country, and is inspired by species of Mexican trees that have each touched my life in some way and are embedded in my memory. Ahuehuete: The giant. Inspired by the most emblematic tree in Santa María del Tule, in Oaxaca. Full of colors, textures and vitality, it denotes fascination with the famous Árbol del Tule. Ayacahuite: The Mexican pine. Large and powerfully green, full of brown cones. It came to dance a soft waltz and to sing a “son jaliscience”. Sahuaro: The cactus. Very tall and full of water, with thorns and of unparalleled green. A forest of sahuaros lies midway between my city and the nearby bay and, since I was little, they have captured my attention. Without a doubt, this movement had to be a “danzón”, my favorite genre of all time. Ceiba: From a tropical climate, with a wide and rough trunk and peculiar, well-defined leaves. It totally inspired me to create a delicious Cha-Cha-Chá, which, with time, inevitably led me to the traditional Mambo. Nubia Jaime- Donjuan.