Redes

Description

Until "La noche de los Mayas" gained popularity in the early 1990s, "Redes" (Nets) was Revueltas' best-known extended work. It is a suite assembled by Revueltas and conductor Erich Kleiber from the composer's music for Paul Strand's 1935 social protest film about an impoverished fishing village. Scored for a rather small orchestra, "Redes" is one of the composer's most serious, perhaps even grimmest, efforts. Part One begins with "The Fishermen": a brass-heavy announcement of the strife faced by the people of this Veracruz village leads to a quieter depiction of the inhabitants. "The Child's Funeral" is a tender yet desolate lament introduced by the woodwinds and picked up by the violins. Following a lugubrious bass-and-cello passage that will form the basis of the finale, "Fishing Party" enlivens the proceedings with whirling music that is just a bit too desperate to be truly festive. Part Two opens with a reminiscence of that ominous music for low strings; soon the full orchestra erupts with rough, jerking utterances; this is "The Fight." It's followed by a dirge that essentially reprises ideas from "The Child's Funeral." A trumpet picks up a distant, threatening call first heard near the work's beginning; this becomes the basis of the final section, "The Return of the Fishermen with their Dead Friend," a long, slow crescendo that begins in the depths of the strings and culminates in a stinging cry from the full orchestra, with the brass heard above all. ~ James Reel, All Music Guide