Xochicuicatl cuecuechtli (Ribald Flowersong)
Xochicuicatl cuecuechtli (Ribald Flowersong) is the first contemporary opera exclusively developed in Nahuatl language and accompanied by an orchestra of Native Mexican instruments. It was written between June, 2011 and January, 2013 by Mexican composer Gabriel Pareyon, after more than a decade of literary, musical and linguistic research. Its text and poetical contents directly come from the homonymous poem, compiled by friar Bernardino de Sahagun amidst the 16th century, among Nahua informants that survived the Conquest of Mexico. This original text is comprised within the collection of Aztec songs known under the title of Cantares Mexicanos or Mexicacuicatl. Premiered in August, 2014, in Arcelia, Guerrero, under the guidance of music and stage director Jose Navarro-Noriega, the piece's plot originates from a reinterpretation proposed by historian and linguist Patrick Johansson, on the erotic sense of the concept cuecuechcuicatl (playful ribald) and the expressive whole that it embodies: song, poetry, music and dance, where sexuality is rather a source for philosophical-existential depth.
