MARIACHI MUSIC: A PHENOMENOM WITH UNCERTAIN ORIGINS

Since their first appearance in Mexico City there has been much dispute as to the origin of Mariachi music. Some people believe that this type of music began in the ancient imperial city of Tenochtitlan when the musicians used to sing in ritual ceremonies and libations. Others believe that it developed much later in the town of Jalisco at the end of the last century. Those who subscribe to this theory, also believe that the name ‘mariachi’ was given by the French as a distortion of the word ‘marriage’. The French had by the end of the 19th century settled in large numbers in Jalisco and, it is believed, given this name to the musicians who performed at religious festivals such as weddings, baptisms and funerals.

A ‘PLAZA’ DESTINED FOR MUSIC

In its beginnings, (long before the conquest) in the area where the plaza is now, was a large market of the Aztec village , Texcatzoncatl. Over the years the market disappeared and the area where it had been was christened by the villagers the Plaza de Santa Cecilia –after the patron saint of music. Without realising it, they were predicting the future destiny of the plaza.
In 1920 the plaza had its first contact with music when a music promoter named Cirilo Marmolejo decided to bring the first mariachi group to Mexico City. It is said that they were so successful that the Mayor of the city wanted to reward them by giving them the chance to choose anywhere in the city where they would like to practice their art, and without thinking they chose the Plaza de Santa Cecilia.
A year later, the Plaza was renamed, Plaza Garibaldi. By that time Mexico had celebrated its first centenary of independence from the Spanish and decided to rename the plaza in honour of Lieutenant Garibaldi. He was an emblematic character from the revolution who fought alongside the famous revolutionary Francisco Madero, and grandson of the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi who went to Mexico to support the revolution.
Nowadays the plaza has become the home of mariachi music where you can find sculptures of the most famous Mexican artists and singers through the ages who have worked with mariachis. The most treasured statues in the plaza are of course that of Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, Lola Beltran, Charro Avitia, Javier Solis, and many others.

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