Manuel Ponce Cuéllar: Google doodle celebrates 139th Birthday of Mexican composer

Happy Birthday, Manuel Ponce!

To celebrate Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar’s 139th Birthday, Google illustrate an attractive doodle on December 8, 2022.  The doodle is illustrated by Mexico City-based guest artist César Canseco. Manuel Ponce was the earliest Mexican classical music composer to gain international recognition and a maestro on the guitar. Although European music heavily influenced his work, he added a Mexican touch to his compositions.

Ponce was born in Fresnillo on this day in 1882. He discovered his talent at an early age and started performing piano when he was just 6 years old. At age 9, he wrote his first composition, “La Marcha del Sarampion” (March of the Measles), while sick with the disease.

When he was 21, Ponce joined the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City but left after realizing his skills were too advanced. He traveled to Europe a year later to study composition and piano. While in Germany, his fellow students encouraged him to incorporate Mexican folk elements into his music—which birthed his original style.

In 1912, he returned to Mexico City to teach at the Conservatorio Nacional and composed his most famous work, “Estrellita.” He studied music in Paris at the École Normale de Musique in 1925 and wrote several compositions for the guitar, inspiring other Mexican composers to follow suit. These two feats put him on the map as one of Mexico’s most esteemed composers and classical guitar players.

He wrote more than 300 compositions but was more than a composer and musician. Ponce was also a teacher, lecturer, music critic and conductor. He also penned over 200 essays as the founder and editor of 3 music journals: Revista Musical de México, Gaceta Musical and Cultura Musical. His styles ranged from baroque to impressionist, classical to romantic–all with a distinct Mexican folk touch.

Ponce was awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes y Ciencias (the National Prize of Arts and Sciences) in 1947. When he passed away the following year, he was buried in the Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres (Roundhouse of the Illustrious Men) of the Panteón de Dolores, a site that honors those who made a significant contribution to Mexican society.

Source: Google doodles

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