"Vertical expression of horizontal desires": how one of the best hits of the 20th century was born. "Besame Mucho"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Song "Besame Mucho" (translated as "Kiss me hard" or "Kiss me a lot") entered the top 10 most popular hits of the twentieth century. The circulation of her recordings in 120 languages, in more than 100 countries of the world, amounted to over 100 million copies. It was performed by over 700 artists, including - Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Placido Domingo … "Kiss me, kiss me harder, as if this night were the last," sang the famous performers of "Besame Mucho", and the audience did not suspect that these words written by a 15-year-old girl, at that time only dreaming of kisses.

Mexican Consuelo Velazquez learned to play the piano at the age of 4, and at the age of 15 she already gave music lessons herself, dreaming of a career as a concert pianist. But it so happened that she became famous all over the world thanks to a single song written in her youth.

Once Consuelo returned from the opera, where she listened to the work of the Spanish composer Enrique Granados, inspired by the paintings of Goya - "Goyeschi". Inspired by what she heard, the girl wrote her own composition. This is how the song "Besame Mucho" was born. Consuelo Velazquez anonymously submitted the song to the radio and it unexpectedly took first place in the competition. Having sounded for the first time on radio in 1941, the song soon became a worldwide hit. In 1944, after a performance by Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, "Besame Mucho" became the first Mexican song to reach number one in the US music charts.

When young Consuelo wrote poetry about passionate kisses, it was only a fantasy, a premonition - at that moment she knew nothing about love. But "Besame Mucho" brought her happiness - the program director of the radio, who first listened to this song, became her husband three years later, and then the father of two children. Consuelo outlived him for 30 years and has always remained faithful to his memory.

She was often asked the question of who the song was dedicated to, full of sensuality and passion. In response, Consuelo smiled modestly - then it was not dedicated to anyone. “It's just a dream of love, a vertical expression of horizontal desires,” she later admitted.

Consuelo Velazquez became a composer who created about 200 works - sonatas, oratorios, symphonies. She was a member of parliament, worked on copyright protection, and headed the Union of Composers of Mexico. But all over the world she is known primarily as the author of "Besame Mucho".

The first in the USSR "Besame Mucho" was performed by Ruzhen Sikora in the 1950s. And then a flurry of criticism fell upon her. The newspaper Sovetskaya Kultura wrote: “Already the“personal data”of these songs can help us understand how and from where an ideology that is alien to us sometimes penetrates. But it's not even about them, the songs themselves are so vulgar, their "harmony" is so primitive, in which there is nothing from either Italian, Spanish or Mexican songs. No wonder they have become a kind of anthem of dudes, picking up the rags of Western "fashion". Their friendly hum "Mu-ucha!" It should have been a long time ago to tell the talented artist who in the concert hall is impressed by this repertoire of hers”.

In the 1970s, Consuelo was invited to Moscow, as a member of the jury for the competition. P. I. Tchaikovsky. On the way from the airport, the taxi driver started whistling “Besame Mucho,” and when he found out that Consuelo was the songwriter, he refused to take money from her. And in the concert hall the entertainer announced “Besame Mucho” as a Cuban folk song, after which it was performed in the rhythm of a march by the Red Banner Song and Dance Ensemble named after S. Alexandrova. A new wave of popularity of the famous song in the USSR began after the premiere of V. Menshov's Oscar-winning film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", where this composition sounded.

After the death of her husband, Consuelo lived in seclusion and did not connect her fate with anyone else. Their sons became very famous painters in Mexico. Consuelo Velazquez passed away in 2005. Shortly before her death, she said: “With the help of Besame Mucho, I kissed the whole world. Not many have succeeded."

The story of another hit is no less interesting: "Under the blue sky …" - how one of the best songs of the twentieth century appeared.