Huapango Danzón

Celebrating Mexico

Every time I listen to José Pablo Moncayo’s composition Huapango, it evokes images of Mexico, or at least what I know about it. As an American, it seems so appropriate to find time on Cinco de Mayo for it. Click the video above to see a wonderful version conducted by Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra.

May 5 is not a national holiday in Mexico. Observances vary, some based on geography. While most government offices stay open, schools close.

Cinco de Mayo is a commemoration of the 1862 Battle of Puebla, a conflict won by Mexican forces defending against France’s invasion and installation of Austrian royal Maximilian as emperor. It was an early battle in the conflict. Imagine, as an American, using some date connected with the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Trenton and calling it Independence Day.

Maximilian was executed by firing squad in 1867. The end of the French incursion gave birth interesting historical “what ifs?” What if France had won and established an American empire? Would it have happened quickly enough so that expected aid for the so-called Confederacy might have changed the outcome of the Civil War?

But rather than taking time wondering “what if?”, consider spending another nine minutes with a modern composition featured below, again conducted by de la Parra. Arturo Márquez’s work Danzón No. 2.

And remember to celebrate Mexico anytime, you don’t need an excuse on May 5.