The "Selena Medley" is a combination of four of Selena's greatest songs. 2 ballads, and 2 more upbeat typical mariachi songs. Each song has unique aspects but when blended together share a pleasing sound and original composition.
1st song:"Como la flor" is a love song with a medium tempo, with minimal vocal range, yet with great volume range-loudness used to translate Selena's pain caused by her love finding a new woman and leaving her. Her voice is of a higher pitch that associates with her innocence. A quality that this young star had a lot of and used to further her career. Transition is very smooth and you hardly notice the change in tempo and change in key.
2nd song: "No me quede mas" is a little slower than "Como la flor" with more vocal range, and less volume range. Similar in that both the first two songs are love songs, "No me quede mas" is much more passionate than "Como la flor." I felt more of a connection between Selena and this song because of the slower tempo and heavenly sounds the violins added. This song used the same instruments but the different tones and the addition of female chorus adds a new texture that is polyphonic rather than the earlier homophonic song, "Como la flor."
3rd song: The transition between the second and third song makes a shift between ballades to upbeat dancing songs. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" begins with an outburst of "hey ya's" as if Selena is stirring life in her audience and energizing them to dance to her music. This song also adds a shaker to assist the guitar in creating the beat. Selena covers a wide range of notes and volumes in this song. This song is also a love song, but unlike the first two does not discuss losing love, but finding love and having her heart be excited by him. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" refers to the sound of her heart when she thinks about her lover. This song is one of a few we have studied that looked at relationships in a happy way. Texture is thickening from the ballades, yet has settled into a homophonic texture line.
4th song, "Baile esta cumbia" is introduced at 5:22 with instrument introduction. Different tone to her voice. Still upbeat. Her voice is higher in this song, and carries a different inflection. Song ends with a burst of all the instruments and Selena's voice. This song is not about love but just about dancing and enjoying life. This song seems to be a strong example of the persuasive and energizing influence Selena had over her audience. The instruments play a greater role in this song, adding to a thicker texture yet the song remains homophonic.
While each song is very different, each reflects aspect about the Singer. I sensed innocence and youth in her ballads- a loss of love is a common theme for young singers because they are going through the changes personally. In the upbeat songs I recognized Selena's ability to use her music to inspire her audience to be lively and happy. Selena was a strong performer with great adversity and there is no doubt as to why she was so popular.
A good description. Why do you think an all-women mariachi ensemble would choose to honor a singer from Texas who, yes, sang mariachi music on occasion but that was not her main genre? What is the purpose of this collection of music? She died probably 10 or so years before it was composed and performed.
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