Márquez: Danzón No. 1

Highlights Series · 1 Mar, 2026

"Note: In the Highlights Series, I’ll be sharing some performance videos that I really enjoy. My usual habit when listening to classical music is to look for recordings, but YouTube actually has a lot of wonderful performance videos. That’s why I started this series—to keep a record of some of the performances I love."

Before I came to know Márquez’s Danzón No. 1, I had actually encountered his Danzón No. 2 first.

When I was in junior high school, I was a member of my school’s wind band. At one point, we were preparing for a county-level competition, and our conductor directed wind bands at three different schools. To give us an opportunity to exchange ideas and observe one another before the official competition, he gathered the bands from the schools he taught and invited other schools, led by his friends, to hold a pre-competition concert and workshop. During that event, one of the schools performed Márquez’s Danzón No. 2.

As I listened to the performance, I found the piece incredibly fascinating. It radiated a distinct Latin American character, which felt very fresh to me at the time. Growing up, I rarely had the chance to hear music in that style, so the piece left a particularly deep impression on me.

One day, I began to wonder: since there was a Danzón No. 2, did that mean there was also a Danzón No. 1? Sure enough, I found a performance of Danzón No. 1 conducted by Gustavo Dudamel with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. At the time, however, my English was quite poor, and I knew very little about classical music. I didn’t even realize that “No. 2” was simply the numbering of the piece. I had assumed that “No. 2” was part of the actual title, and I thought that if a Danzón No. 1 existed, it was merely a coincidence.

However, when I finally listened to Danzón No. 1, I completely fell in love with it. The character of the piece gives me a sense of ease and relaxation; I truly adore it. In the video of the performance by Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, there are also scenes of dancing and footage of the city of Los Angeles, which make the entire performance even more vivid and engaging.