The two versions of one extraordinary score, Planos (Layers), later published in its orchestral version as Danza geométrica ("Geometric Dance"), contain a clue to Revueltas' most advanced and personal idiom. The musical material of Planos consists of a number of closed units, each with a singularity of its own, defined by the use of elements such as timbre, intensity, articulation, choice of register, melodic outline, meter, rhythmic design, or length. By themselves they may sound simple and even conservative. What is unique and artful, though, is Revueltas' ability to combine these units into a whole, via techniques of sequencing, double and triple superimposition, stretti, micro-quotation, extension, and shadowing. Thus he constructs episodes with a variable density of layered information and carefully lays out a plan for their evolution in his composition. A complex design of ostinati and rhythmic planes underscores and unites these episodes, giving continuity and creating overall form. Out of the resulting mosaic the singular Revueltas sound finally emerges. His ingenious musical motifs are joined in a discourse that can be at the same time flowing and abrupt, a faithful mirror of the daily battle within the conflicting imagery of his inner and outer worlds. "Silvestre, like all real people, was a battlefield."

- Octavio Paz

Copyright 1998 by Peermusic Ltd.