Date of Award
Fall 1-2-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Music
First Advisor
Michele Cabrini
Second Advisor
Catherine Coppola
Academic Program Adviser
Yayoi Everett
Abstract
This thesis examines the life and music of Juventino Rosas (1868–1894), the Mexican composer whose most enduring work is Sobre las olas (1888), a Viennese-style waltz. I ask the question: Why was Sobre las olas so well-known and why does it remain beloved with audiences around the world, even today, while Rosas is hardly known outside his native Mexico? I considered historical, social and cultural factors, as well as musical events of the day, that may have had bearing on the question. I describe the broad outlines of Rosas's life and the challenges he faced as an indigenous person, composer and working musician living in poverty during the Porfiriato period (1876–1911). I conclude that it was his subalternity vis-à-vis the Mexican State that kept Rosas from achieving greater recognition, and that he was living, working and composing outside the very circles of social, political and musical influence that were valued in his day and could have advanced him. Reference is made to Felipe Villanueva, a contemporary of Rosas, to demonstrate that Rosas's subaltern story was not so unique; both composers struggled throughout their lives with poverty and exclusion. Finally, it was within a context of musical convergences and competing interests and influences that Rosas developed his important contributions to Mexican music. I analyze two of his most popular works, Sobre las olas and Carmen, waltzes in the Viennese style, noteworthy for their evolved forms and in their use of rhythms associated with Mexican music today.
Recommended Citation
Langevin-Falcon, Catherine J., "Juventino Rosas, Sobre las olas, and their place in defining Mexican music in the Porfirian nineteenth century" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1453
