Six violins produced the melody for “Ave Maria” at the Coliseum at the National Western Complex on Sunday morning, as two Mexican guitars plucked out the notes.
The music for Mass was the intersection of symphony and hacienda, as the 10-member Mariachi Los Galleros played for the National Western Stock Show’s Cowboy Mass.
When the musicians, including two trumpeters, sang, their harmonies were perfect.
Gerry Raines, a rancher from Wyoming, was walking by outside the sparse crowd at worship when he heard the mariachi.
“If you don’t love God,” he said in a Western drawl, “you’d still love that music.”
Miguel Guzman can’t help being biased.
“The music is everything,” said Guzman, the lead violinist and director of the San Antonio troupe that accompanies the Mexican Rodeo across the country.
And he’s not just talking about church.
Everything about the mariachi bands is a reflection of culture.
The mariachis became prevalent in the 19th century, as roaming workers formed musical troupes as they traveled to haciendas looking for jobs, sometimes finding them as musicians for weddings and other celebrations.
Today mariachis wear costumes, a “traje” of black pants and short jacket and a large bow tie. The costumes are reminders of the Mexican Revolution, similar to the costumes the charros, or Mexican horsemen, wear in the rodeo.
The Mexican Rodeo attracts thousands of Western Latinos, with its pageantry and celebrations. It also educates others. The Mexican rodeo, after all, is not a competition but an exhibition of the Mexican cowboy cultures.
“It’s a lot better than Cinco de Mayo,” said Jeff Torres of Aurora, a second-generation American, before Saturday night’s rodeo. “I know my kids get more out of this than anything else, just because it’s festive and fun.”
That’s the job of the mariachi at such celebrations, from Mass to death-defying bucking bulls, Guzman said.
“It’s the history. It’s the culture,” he said. “It gets the audience into it, and when the charro is on the back of that bull, I think it gives him spirit and strength.”
