What is Spanish for Chutzpah?
In 1836, Mexico’s failure to enforce a Spanish requirement on its immigrants made it difficult to explain to the Alamo garrison that it was about to be massacred. A 3000 man army with cannons offered a hint, but the Texans might have missed the subtlety. So the Mexican army band serenaded the garrison with “The Cut Throat Song”–a musical message to expect no mercy.
Here is the number:
The Texans probably assumed that they would be bored to death.
Some 120 years later, a John Wayne movie wanted to use “The Cut Throat Song” in its soundtrack. But the composer Dmitri Tiomkin knew that he could do better. In a way, he did…
Of course, Santa Anna did not have the foresight to include a full orchestra in his army. And he would have had to melt down some cannons to increase the brass section. There is also some question as to how the Texans would have reacted to Tiomkin’s lush, seductive music. Probably panic…They were ready to die for Texas…but not same-sex dating!
All the Texans wanted was to be free . Free to own slaves .
Mexico would have tolerated serfdom–it had since 1520 and would until about 1910. But the Texans would not compromise.
Dmitri Tiompkin wrote some great movie scores. My personal favorite is The Guns of Navarone.