Henri, Heinrich, Enrique Herz. The Invention of a Romantic Artist in Nineteenth-century Mexico

Abstract

This article deals with the tour of the pianist Henri Herz in Mexico in 1849-1850; it considers the attention Herz paid to the female members of his audience, both in the theater and in the home. It also addresses the invention of the romantic artist eected by the pianist during his visit to Mexico and his confrontations in the local press with the harpist Charles Bochsa. Another matters dealt with are the composition of a national march in Mexico and the iconography of the frontispiece executed by Ignacio Cumplido to the published edition. Henri Herz contributed to the construction of an incipient Mexican national musical identity, through both the competition he promoted to compose a text for a national anthem—a task which inspired the somewhat diminished Academia de Letrán—and the pa-triotic enthusiasm he generated in his concerts.