He was natural within Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and deliberate at a National Conservatory of Music around Mexico City, St Edward College in Austin, Texas and the Chicago College of Music. He gave fiddle recitals & within 1929 was invited by Carlos Chávez to become adjunct conductor of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1935. He & Chávez did good deal to promote contemporary Mexican music. It was in the area of this period that Revueltas began to compose earnestly.

He attend Spain and worked for a Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, but upon Francisco Franco's victory, returned to Mexico to teach. He earned little, & fell into poorness & alcoholism. He died around Mexico City on the day his ballet El renacuajo paseador, written vii years earliest, was premiered.

He wrote film music, chamber music, songs and a total of more works. Among his orchestral music are the total of symphonic poems with Sensemayá: Chant for the Killing of a Snake (1938), based on the verse form by Nicolás Guillén, the best known. His musical language is tonal but often unmusical, rhythmically vital, and oftentimes has the distinctly Mexican flavour.

He appeared briefly as a bar pianist in the moving picture ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (Mexico, 1935), for which he composed a music, placing the sign away the piano saying Se suplica there is no tirarle al pianista (Kindly stay away from shooting a pianist).