Sinfonía de Antígona (Antigone Symphony) is Carlos Chávez's Symphony No. 1, composed in 1933. The music originated as theatre music to accompany the tragedy of Antigone, hence the title of the symphony. The material was reworked into a single movement and rescored for a large orchestra. It lasts about 11 minutes in performance. The Sinfonía de Antígona originated from the incidental music Chávez composed for a production of Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Sophocles' tragedy Antigone, given by the group Teatro Orientación at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 1932. Chávez re-shaped some of the musical materials and orchestrated the result as his First Symphony. It was premiered in Mexico City under the composer's baton on 15 December 1933 (Slonimsky 1945, 233–34; Orbón 1987c, 79). Two movements of the original theatre music, for a chamber ensemble of seven players, was eventually published by the composer's estate as Antígona, apuntes para la Sinfonía (Antigone, sketches for the Symphony) (Chávez 2000) WIKIPEDIA
VIDEO: Carlos Chávez (1899-1978): Sinfonia No.1 "Sinfonía de Antigona" (1933). Orquesta Filarmónica de la ciudad de México diretta da Enrique Bátiz.
