Indigenous Mavrodaphne of Kefalonia, privately owned vineyards, gentle intervention, small production, and a spectacular lunar eclipse at the time of the first harvest—all these speak of authenticity and an ancient spirit. Sometimes you have to travel far to discover them, like the 16th-century Kefalonian sailor Ioannis Fokas, or Juan de Fuca, whose wanderings brought him to Central and North America. Among the civilizations he may have encountered were the Mayas, a people particularly sensitive to the eclipses of the moon goddess.

A conquistador, or even a simple sailor like Juan de Fuca from Valeriano, Kefalonia, must have been the white man who seduces the young tribal daughter in the erotic tragedy The Night of the Mayas (1939) by Chano Urueta. The film was quickly forgotten, but the cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa and the music by Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) remained in history. The inspired and prolific Mexican composer scored the film with an impressive sonic fresco, a musical equivalent of the striking mural epics created by muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

And if initially the music was forgotten even faster than the film, tradition says it was the composer’s sister, Rosaura Revueltas, who presented her late brother’s score to Paul Hindemith when he visited Mexico. The German composer was so impressed that he created a first suite with the film’s music. However, it was José Yves Limantour (1919-1976) who, in 1960, created his own version, essentially composing a new work based on the film’s original music. The result was so captivating that it became established as one of the most popular Latin American works of the 20th century.

The four-movement suite essentially approaches the structure of a regular symphony. The first movement, Night of the Mayas, with its opening homophonic blocks, exalts the monumental power of the Mayan civilization. The lively second movement, Night of the Jaranas, is a scherzo in the rhythm of the eponymous Yucatecan dance of Spanish origin from the colonial period (17th-18th century). The lyrical third movement, Night of Yucatan, often associated with corresponding slow movements from Gustav Mahler’s symphonies, features an authentic Mayan melody on the flute, the lullaby Koonex Koonex Palexém (Come children, the sun is setting), while the fourth movement, Night of Enchantment, which follows attacca (without interruption), is a series of variations for percussion, with the theme being rhythmic rather than melodic.

The definitive shaping of the final cadenza is due to yet another composer, Enrique Diemecke. In this, the exuberant array of percussion from Western and traditional instruments (and a conch shell) drives the finale to a paroxysm in one of the most impressive percussion pieces in the symphonic repertoire.

You can listen to the work Night of the Mayas by Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra and the Orchestre de Paris from a concert of Mexican music at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2015.

The movements:
1. Noche de los Mayas, molto sostenuto
2. Noche de jaranas, scherzo
3. Noche de Yucatán, andante espressivo
4. Noche de encantamiento, tema y variaciones (theme and variations)