Manuel Maria Ponce Essay

Manuel Maria Ponce Manuel Maria Ponce is “one of Mexico’s most beloved figures in the world of classical music” (Encyclo.com). Ponce was born in Fresnillo, Mexico in 1882 and he died in Mexico City in 1948. Ponce was twelfth child of his parents, Felipe de Jesus Ponce Leon and María de Jesus Cuellar. Felipe de Jesus Ponce Leon fought in during Mexico’s revolution in 1867. Maria de Jesus Cuellar loved music and urged her children to learn it. Ponce received his first musical lesson when he was five years old by his sister Josefina whom was in the Templo de San Diego (St. Diego’s Temple) choir. When he was 12 years old the Cathedral of Aguascalient3es appointed him organist. This was the beginning for his carrier in music. According to Oxford Music Online, Ponce studied in Mexico City, in Bologna, Italy, and in Berlin, Germany. He stayed in Havana, Cuba from 1915-1917. He also spent eight years in Paris, where he studied with composer Paul Dukas from 1925-1933. Ponce was the first composer to study Mexico’s folk music. Each of the laces where he traveled influenced his work. When he was 18

He continued to teach and composed at the Conservatorio Nacional, for which he became director in 1934. He also worked at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma. Some important works in the 40s include, Ferial, which he dedicated to a popular festival in Mexico, Violin Concerto (1943), dedicated to Polish violinist Henryck Szeryng, and Seis Preludios Cortos in guitar, which he dedicated to Carlos Chavez daughter. Dos Vinetas is believed to be Ponce’s last composition. He also held the Concerto of the South in Uruguay in 1941. In 1948, Ponce was awarded Mexico’s National Prize for Arts and Science. In April of 1948, Manuel Maria Ponce died of uremic poisoning. “Ponce is remembered as the founder of Mexican musical nationalism, and his music is considered central to the tradition of classical music for the guitar”