Mexican Folk Songs Inspire Copland

Aaron Copland’s El Salón México, the first of many signature works, was completed in 1936. During the Depression, Copland traveled to Mexico and made an important friendship with Carlos Chávez, the Mexican composer. It was during his first visit to Mexico City in 1932 that Chávez took him to the colorful nightclub called El Salón México.

Copland decided to compose a piece about the spirit of the place, but he was uneasy about tampering with Mexican folk music. “I am terribly afraid of what you will say of the Salón México. Perhaps it is not Mexican at all, and I would feel so foolish. But in America del Norte, it may sound Mexican.”

Using Mexican melodies seemed appropriate. “My purpose was not merely to quote literally but to heighten without in any way falsifying the natural simplicity of Mexican tunes,” he said.

Chávez asked to conduct the piece when it was complete, and El Salón México was premiered in Mexico City in 1937 to critical and popular acclaim and has become one of Copland’s most performed pieces.