Born on December 20, 1950 in Álamos, Mexico; Currently resides in Mexico City, Mexico.
Concierto de Otoño for trumpet & orchestra
Son de luz
Balada de floripondios
Conga de flores
Composed: 2018
Estimated length: 20 minutes
Born in 1950 in the desert town of Álamos, Sonora, in northwestern Mexico, Arturo Márquez grew up surrounded by music. His father, a violinist, played in local mariachi bands, and Márquez himself began on the violin before turning to composition. Studies in Paris and later at the California Institute of the Arts exposed him to experimental approaches, but over time his curiosity drew him back to Mexico’s diverse musical traditions.
By blending classical techniques with the rhythms and melodies of everyday life, Márquez forged a distinctive voice that brought him international fame. His series of Danzón pieces, especially the beloved Danzón No. 2, transformed a popular dance into vibrant symphonic works—much like Astor Piazzolla did with the tango.
Márquez brings this same spirit to Concierto de Otoño (“Autumn Concerto”), written in 2018 for Venezuelan trumpet virtuoso Pacho Flores, a graduate of El Sistema—the groundbreaking Venezuelan music program that also produced conductor Gustavo Dudamel, one of Márquez’s leading champions. Márquez calls the trumpet “the queen in the heart of Mexico… the Mexican cry of joy and of sorrow,” and describes this concerto as “a compilation of all those feelings, colors, and consolations.”
Like his acclaimed Fandango concerto for violin, which fuses traditional dance rhythms with the classical concerto structure, Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño blends Latin and Western symphonic idioms. It also adds a unique challenge: rather than performing on a single trumpet, Flores must switch between four different instruments, all crafted by the renowned Spanish maker Stomvi. These include a C trumpet in the first movement, a D trumpet in the finale, and in the central movement, the warm flugelhorn and bright soprano cornet in F. Each instrument brings its own color and character, expanding the expressive range of the piece while showcasing the soloist’s extraordinary versatility.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
Márquez describes the opening movement, Son de luz (“Sound of Light”), as an exploration of “the encounter with new horizons of peace and reconciliation.” It unfolds as a dramatic conversation between trumpet and orchestra, built on mestizo rhythms—the rhythmic blend of Indigenous, European, and African traditions. The movement is modeled on classical sonata form, a structure that introduces musical ideas, contrasts them, and then brings them back together in a satisfying resolution.
The central movement, Balada de floripondios, is, in the composer’s words, a “song without words, in tribute to a love spell.” The title word, floripondio, refers to a flower shaped like a trumpet’s bell—sometimes called an angel’s trumpet—but it can also suggest extravagance or flourish. Márquez structures this movement as a series of continuous variations evoking a chaconne, a Baroque form built on a repeating musical pattern that creates a hypnotic sense of unfolding mystery.
In the finale, Conga de flores (“Conga of Flowers”), Márquez turns to another Cuban source—the vibrant dance known as the conga—as the foundation for a lively classical rondo, a form where a main theme keeps returning like a familiar refrain between contrasting episodes. He evokes inspirations from Haydn, Chopin, and the legendary 20th-century Mexican trumpet virtuoso Rafael Méndez. The result is a joyous tribute to the artistry of Pacho Flores himself. Within this whirlwind, the soloist even has a moment to improvise a cadenza, adding a spontaneous flourish before the music races to its jubilant conclusion.
In addition to four types of solo trumpet, scored for 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 3 percussionists, and strings.
− Thomas May is the Nashville Symphony's program annotator.
Back