Mikrotonalität in Mexiko

A musical pioneer between worlds and eras: Julián Carrillo's "Sonido 13" stands for a microtonal revolution that sought to open up the sound universe beyond the twelve semitones and put Mexico on the map of the musical avant-garde. From the outset, however, the composition system and its inventor were surrounded by suspicions of charlatanism. Not entirely without reason, as the study proves with new source-based material. At the same time, it identifies the specific innovative power of Sonido 13 in a precise and analytical manner.

Between 1921 and 1925, the Mexican composer developed a project that challenged the boundaries of the Western tonal system, yet all too often stumbled over gaps in knowledge and discourse. For the first time, the period in which Sonido 13 was created is illuminated in a source-based and insightful manner, including the transcription of the first five compositions. Carrillo's talent lay not so much in his compositional genius as in his gift for exploiting global non-connections: recipient of the German Federal Cross of Merit, exponent at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels on the one hand, marginalized, forgotten composer on the other.

Reichert's study reconstructs the development of this first microtonal composition system in Latin America with the help of numerous sources that had long been overlooked, dispelling myths in the reception, historiography, and research on and about Carrillo. A microtonal-microhistorical journey of discovery between creativity and megalomania, curiosity and fascination.

The book will be released on March 20 and is now available for pre-order.