Viva La Vida is a musical journey through Mexican culture and history that celebrates the groundbreaking painter Frida Kahlo through the medium of the guitar. The journey begins with music of the Mexican baroque from a codex dating from 1732 by Santiago de Murcia that was discovered in 1942 in a Leon, Guanajuato, antique store. Next up is music from the early 20th century guitarist Otaviano Yañez. Yañez was quite a phenomenon celebrated in and around his native Veracruz through his combining of virtuoso guitar music with Mariachi idioms. Manuel Ponce, a contemporary of Kahlo’s, is the most prolific of all Mexican guitar composers. His long association with the great Spanish Guitarist Andrés Segovia yielded not just major works such as the “Sonata Classica” but also more intimate works rooted in traditional Mexican Folk Song such as “Tres Canciones Populares Mexicanas” and “Scherzino Mexicano”. Carlos Chávez was a student of Manuel Ponce and became one of the most important and influential figures in the development of Mexican classical music. Chavez was known for using indigenous folk melodies and rhythms in his compositions as exemplified by his “Three Pieces for Guitar”.
