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ABSTRACT
Title of Document:
CANTEMOS A CORO: AN ANTHOLOGY OF

CHORAL MUSIC FROM LATIN AMERICA
Diana V. Sez, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2011
Directed By:
Dr. Edward Maclary

Professor, Conducting
Director of Choral Activities
This project presents an anthology of Latin American choral music, with examples from
periods from the colonial time to the present. It includes notes about each composers life
and the historical context in which the works were created, and explains some of the most
striking features of the music.
The anthology is organized in three main section. The first one covers music--mostly
sacred music--composed during the colonial era, from the 17th to 19th centuries. The
second group includes choral music composed after most countries regained their
independence from Spain; most of this music is secular. The third group features
contemporary compositions written after the 1980s, as well as works inspired by Latin
American folklore. The anthology includes scores for music that is in the public domain
and songs for which permission to reproduce has been granted, as well as a list of
contacts and publishing houses that carry the music. Concert program samples are
provided.
CANTEMOS A CORO: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHORAL MUSIC

FROM LATIN AMERICA
By
Diana V. Sez
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the

University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts
2011
Advisory Committee:
Dr. Edward Maclary, Chair
James Ross
Dr. James Fry
Dr. Janet Montgomery
Dr. Juan Carlos Quintero-Herencia
Copyright by
Diana V. Sez
2011
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I will be eternally grateful to all the people who helped me during the process of writing
this dissertation.
To all my friends from Latin America who provided guidance and advice: Mary Dager,
Miguel Astor and Mariela Valladares (Venezuela), Maria Felicia Prez and Beatriz
Corona (Cuba), Oscar Escalada and Guillermo Almada (Argentina), Alejandro
Hernndez Valdez and Jorge Crdoba (Mexico), Armando Snchez Mlaga (Peru), and
Luis Olivieri (Puerto Rico).
To Craig H. Russell and Juan Pedro Gaffney from California: for sharing their knowledge
about Renaissance and Baroque music of Mexico.
To my friends and editors Mariana Sobral, Allison White and Patricia Rogers: I never
would have been able to do this without you.
To my teacher and advisor Dr. Maclary: for challenging my intellect to the limit.
To my parents Marta and Samuel: for their encouragement and support.
To my dear husband Ernesto Cuadra for his unconditional love, support and
encouragement; to my daughters Natalia and Tanya for believing in mami.
And finally to the singers of Cantigas, Washingtons Premier Latino Chorus: your
friendship, talent and passion for the music of Latin America were my inspiration to
finish this project.
ii
C ONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii
LIST OF EXAMPLES ........................................................................................................ v
LIST OF TEXTS................................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF MUSIC SCORES ............................................................................................. viii
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1
On a Personal Note ......................................................................................................... 1
The Purpose of this Anthology ....................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER I. CHORAL MUSIC DURING THE COLONIAL ERA ............................... 6
First Printed Music in the Americas ............................................................................... 9
Hanacpachap cussicuinin (c. 1631), attributed to Juan Prez Bocanegra ............. 10
The Viceroyalties: Governance by Church and State ................................................ 11
Music in the Cathedrals ................................................................................................ 13
Laetatus Sum in His, motet by Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo ................................. 15
Psalm 32, Exsultate Iusti in Domino, by Juan Gutirrez de Padilla ...................... 17
Villancicos in the Americas: Music in the Vernacular ................................................. 18
Eso rigor e repente, guineo by Gaspar Fernandes ................................................... 21
Los coflades de la estleya, by Juan de Araujo .......................................................... 23
The Eighteenth Century ................................................................................................. 25
Music from the Jesuit Missions .................................................................................... 25
Domine ad adjuvandum me, by Domenico Zipoli ................................................... 29
Two American Composers ........................................................................................... 29
De Lamentatione Jeremiae, Sabbato Sancto, by Manuel de Sumaya .................... 32
En el Da Festivo, by Jos de Orejn y Aparicio ...................................................... 35
The Nineteenth Century ................................................................................................. 37
The School of Chacao ................................................................................................... 37
In monte Oliveti, by Cayetano Carreo.................................................................... 40
CHAPTER II. CHORAL MUSIC AFTER INDEPENDENCE ...................................... 42
Nationalism vs. Neoclassicism ........................................................................................ 43
Mexico .............................................................................................................................. 45
Argentina ......................................................................................................................... 49
Chile ................................................................................................................................. 53
Puerto Rico ...................................................................................................................... 57
Venezuela: A Choral Country ....................................................................................... 58
iii
CHAPTER III. HISTORY GOES ON: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS ................. 68

Latin American Folklore: Source of Inspiration ........................................................ 76
The Mountains of Argentina ......................................................................................... 77
Contrasting Rhythms from Peru ................................................................................... 79
The Cuban Son.............................................................................................................. 83
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 88
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 90
APPENDIX A MUSIC SCORES .................................................................................. 91
APPENDIX B SAMPLES OF CORAL CANTIGAS CONCERT PROGRAMS ...... 237
APPENDIX C CONTACTS AND RESOURCES ...................................................... 243
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY .................................................................... 246
iv
LIST OF EXAMPLES
Page
Symmetry in Sumayas Lamentations ...............................................................................31
Russos El gato de mi casa, ms. 33-45. .............................................................................79
Opening measures of Carpios Triste. ...............................................................................81
Syncopated rhythmic pattern on bass line on Bittrichs Festejo de Navidad ....................83
Excerpt from Valeras Ir a Santiago ................................................................................87
LIST OF TEXTS
Page
Dios itlaconantzine, by Don Hernando Franco....................................................................9
Hanacpachap cussicuinin, attributed to Juan Prez Bocanegra ........................................10
Laetatus Sum in His, by Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo .......................................................15
Psalm 32, Exsultate Iusti in Domino, by Juan Gutirrez de Padilla ..................................17
Eso rigor e repente, by Gaspar Fernandes .........................................................................21
Los coflades de la estleya, by Juan de Araujo ...................................................................23
Domine ad adjuvandum me, by Domenico Zipoli .............................................................29
De Lamentatione Jeremiae, Sabbato Sancto, by Manuel de Sumaya ...............................32
En el Da Festivo, by Jos de Orejn y Aparicio ...............................................................35
In monte Oliveti, by Cayetano Carreo..............................................................................40
Me gustas cuando callas, by Blas Galindo ........................................................................46
Tres Epitafios, by Rodolfo Hallfter ...................................................................................48
Se equivoc la paloma, by Carlos Guastavino...................................................................52
Villancicos, by Alfonso Letelier ........................................................................................56
Ave Maria, by Hector Campos Parsi..................................................................................58
All va un encobijado, by Antonio Lauro ..........................................................................61
Pregntale a ese mar, by Inocente Carreo.......................................................................62
Mata del nima sola, by Antonio Estvez .........................................................................65
vi
Pescador de anclas, by Modesta Bor ................................................................................67

A una dama que iba cubierta, by Federico Ibarra Groth ...................................................69
Salve Regina, by Csar Alejandro Carrillo ........................................................................71
Corazn Coraza, by Beatriz Corona..................................................................................73
Siete Haikus, by Jorge Crdoba .........................................................................................75
El gato de mi casa, by Antonio Russo ...............................................................................78
Triste, by Roberto Carpio ..................................................................................................80
Festejo de Navidad, by Herbert Bittrich ............................................................................82
Ir a Santiago, by Roberto Valera .....................................................................................85
vii
LIST OF MUSIC SCORES

Page
Hanacpachap attributed tu Juan Prez Bocanegra .........................................................92
Dios itlaconantzine attributed to Don Hernando Franco ................................................94
Exsultate Iusti in Domino Juan Gutirrez de Padilla ......................................................97
Eso rigor e repente Gaspar Fernandes .........................................................................109
Domine ad adjuvandum me Domenico Zipoli. .............................................................119
En el Da Festivo Jos de Orejn y Aparicio ...............................................................129
In monti Oliveti Cayetano Carreo. ..............................................................................144
Villancicos Alfonso Letelier. ........................................................................................168
Ave Maria Hector Campos Parsi...................................................................................177
Mata del nima sola Antonio Estevez. .........................................................................182
Pescador de anclas Modesta Bor. ................................................................................188
Corazn Coraza Beatriz Corona...................................................................................192
Salve Regina Csar Alejandro Carrillo. ........................................................................196
Siete Haikus Jorge Crdoba. .........................................................................................199
Triste Roberto Carpio. ..................................................................................................215
Festejo de Navidad Herbert Bittrich. ............................................................................217
Ir a Santiago Roberto Valera. .....................................................................................224
viii
INTRODUCTION
On a Personal Note
When I first moved to the United States from Puerto Rico to pursue studies in choral
conducting, I was surprised to learn that no Latin American choral music was included in
the curriculum. I could probably have dealt with the fact that no Latin American
repertoire was available then, but what really caught my attention was the fact that choral
musicians here seemed to have no interest in such musicor perhaps they just were not
aware that any such music even existed. I submerged myself in the study of the
standard choral repertoire, always wishing to find music that would better represent
me.
During my college years I met students from different parts of Latin America. Even
though we all spoke the same language, I immediately realized how different we were.
Through informal gatherings I became acquainted with their music, their rhythms, and
their musical instruments. We also shared musical scores that I jealously saved and
collected with the idea of performing them someday; most were old photocopied scores
or out-of-print publications. I was familiar only with Puerto Rican and Venezuelan choral
music, but gradually I learned to recognize names of composers such as Antonio Lauro
and Inocente Carreo from Venezuela, Blas Galindo and Francisco Ibarra from Mexico,
and Roberto Valera and Beatriz Corona from Cuba.
When I moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1990, I wanted to start my own choir, but
I soon realized that the area had more than its fair share of choirs. I decided it was the
right time to start a choir dedicated exclusively to the performance of choral music from
Latin Americaand that is how Coral Cantigas was born. Now we could learn and
perform the dozens of musical scores that I had been collecting for years. Founding and
directing the choir opened more doors to the Latin American choral world for me, and for
the choir: we have traveled to Argentina, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico; we have been
invited to perform at local and regional choral music conventions; and we have
collaborated with other Latin American choral directors and ensembles such as Opus 4
from Argentina and Dessandan from Cuba. Personally I have had the satisfaction of
meeting and sharing with choral musicians and musicologists from Latin America
Maria Felicia Prez from Cuba, Oscar Escalada from Argentina, Egberto Bermdez from
Colombia, Armando Snchez Mlaga from Per, Waldo Aranguiz from Chile, and Luis
Olivieri from Puerto Rico, among many others. These contacts and experiences have
encouraged me to do more to advance Latin American choral music in the United States.
Fortunately, Latin American choral music is now making its way into the United States,
with frequent choral exchanges between Latin American and American choirs and
international festivals. Thanks to that growing interest, more Latin American choral
music is being published and therefore becoming available to practicing musicians and
music studentsfor example, Latin American musicians such as Oscar Escalada from
Argentina and Maria Guinand from Venezuela have edited and published choral music in
the United States. I am happy to be able to contribute to this exciting trend.
The Purpose of this Anthology

music in the Americas turns out not to be peripheral to the
history of Western music but an integral part of the story1
J. Peter Burkholder
Never before have choirs had so much access to choral music. For the first time in history
we are able to purchase music from all over the world through the Internet with relative
ease, and hundreds of scores are published every year. Still, it is very hard to find
challenging and reliable published editions of Latin American choral music in the United
States, and choirs here are missing a vast treasure of music that could add immeasurably
to their repertoires and give great pleasure to their audiences. The purpose of this project
is to present an anthology of choral music from Latin America that represents the
diversity and significance of this music in a broad historical context.
Of course, it would be impossible to summarize the history of choral music in Latin

America in an anthology of little more than 20 compositions. But it is my hope that those
who encounter this collection will gain a better understanding of the development of
choral music in Spanish-speaking Latin America by sampling the work of some of the
most well-known and recognized composers of the last four centuries. For each choral
composition in the anthology, I provide notes about the authors life and the historical
context in which the works were created and point out some of the most striking features
J. Peter Burkholder, Music of the Americas and Historical Narrative, American Music 27, No. 4,
(Winter 2009): 406.
of the music.
Latin America is a very diverse region, so it would be impossible to represent every

single country. Therefore, I have organized the anthology in three main groups.
The first chapter covers music composed during the colonial era, from the 17th to the 19th
centuries. After the Spanish conquerors and colonizers arrived in the Americas, they
governed the new territories through a political system of viceroyalties in which the
Catholic Church had great power. Music was an important part of the conquerors plan to
convert and acculturate the native peoples, setting the stage for a cultural phenomenon
that allowed the creation of new music.
The second chapter includes choral music composed after most countries gained their
independencewhen the production of choral music declined, sacred music gave way to
secular music, and a new-found sense of national pride shaped the creative process of
many composers. By the early part of the 20th century, however, many composers were
again writing for the choral mediumfor example, in Venezuela, madrigals that
combined 20th century harmonies with 16th century compositional techniques; and in
Chile, Mexico, and Argentina, many a cappella works that are now considered classics.
The third chapter features contemporary compositions written after the 1980s by a newer
generation of composers, responding to Latin American choral ensembles demand for
newer repertoire. These musicians are active composers and conductors, and their works
are performed often by choirs all over Latin America and the United States. Finally, the
third chapter also includes a group of contemporary works inspired by Latin Americas
rich and diverse folkloreworks based on traditional rhythms and forms such as the
Cuban son, the Argentinean gato, and the Peruvian festejo.
It is my hope that this anthology will serve as an introduction to the study, performance,
and dissemination of the vast and rich choral repertoire of Latin America.
CHAPTER I. CHORAL MUSIC DURING THE COLONIAL ERA
The Spaniards reached Central Mexico in 1519 and conquered Tenochtitln, the capital
city of the Aztec empire, two years later, in 1521. Corts and his men were awed by this
city built over a lake, with its magnificent buildings and temples, wide streets, and canals.
They had never expected to encounter a highly civilized society at the height of its power,
where the intellectual lifemusic, dance, and writingwas highly valued and, indeed,
had a sacred dimension.2
Singing was very important in pre-Hispanic society, and musicians enjoyed social
prestige. For the Aztec nobility, musical activity was as important as military activity: if
young nobles were not sent to military school, they were sent to singing school to learn
their religious rituals and ceremonies.3 The musical training of the native cultures was
strict: mistakes during religious ceremonies could incur the death penalty4.
Once the Spaniards conquered the land, they recruited many Aztecs of noble descent to
learn and assimilate the rules and the codes of the new society and its Christian religion.
It may be that the natives musical background helped them assimilate the Christian
liturgy relatively quickly. In addition, the Spaniards custom of building churches and
Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson, Colonial Latin America (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2001), 19.
3
Diccionario de la msica espaola e hispanoamericana (2002), Mexico: Msica Precolombina, by
Irene Vzquez Valle, vol. 7: 498.
4
Diccionario de la msica espaola, Coros: Mexico, by Gloria Carmona, vol. 4: 56.
placing crosses on preexisting religious sites reaffirmed the sacredness of the location
and promoted syncretism, the fusion of Christian and indigenous beliefs.5
Two of the most popular song forms the Spaniards brought with them to the
Americas were chanzonetas a lo divino and villancicos, which both had religious
texts in the vernacular language (rather than the Latin of the church).
Chanzonetas a lo divino. The chanzoneta is a light and festive religious song
written in the vernacular. During the Corpus Christi festivities chanzonetas were
sung during the procession.
Villancicos. The villancico is a Spanish poetic and musical form that consists of
several coplas (stanzas) framed by an estribillo (refrain) at the beginning and at
the end. The number of coplas varies, and the estribillo can be repeated several
times between coplas. The villancicos often used characters from popular
culturepeasants, the town mayor, an altar boy, a priest, or representatives of
minority groups like the gypsies. The vernacular texts used by the composers
reflected the diversity of ethnic groups in the culture. People in Spain and Portugal
had already categorized some of their villancicos as negros, referring to Black
characters; gallegos, referring to the people from Galicia; and gitanos, referring to
the gypsies. Such villancicos might imitate a specific way of speaking, with a
characteristic accent and jargon. This popular aspect made the villancico a favorite
musical form among composers, singers, and audiences.
The Spaniards who were in charge of teaching and converting quickly realized that music
was an effective tool for imposing their culture on the natives. Missionaries and priests,
who learned the native languages to facilitate conversion, set up schools that played a big
role in the music education of the Indian population. For example, Pedro de Gante
5
Burkholder and Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 94.
(ca.1480-1572), a Flemish Franciscan who arrived in Mexico with other missionaries in

1523, founded the Texcoco School, where the Indians learned reading, writing, and music
and were taught to play and build musical instruments. Pedro de Gante even wrote
villancicos for the natives to sing.6 With time, the students of this school and others like
it became the chapel masters, singers, players, and composers in chapels and cathedrals
throughout the Americas.
Both secular and religious musicians brought the Iberian tradition of popular religious
music to the Americas. Songs with religious texts written in the vernacular languagefor
example, villancicos and chanzonetas a lo divinobecame as popular in Ibero-America
during the 17th century as they had been in Spain during the 16th century. Since these
compositions were not as restricted as Latin religious musical forms, they allowed the
composers to be creative with text, compositional technique, and performance practice. It
is important to realize, though, that regardless of the ethnic origin of the composer or the
language of the text, Europe (specifically, Spain) still provided the model for musical
compositions.
Don Hernando Franco

There were relatively few opportunities for people of native or African origin to be
educated and to succeed in society, but some lucky ones enjoyed the protection of their
masters and are recognized in the historical records. One such person was Don Hernando
Franco. According to Robert Stevenson, Franco was an Indian youth educated at the
Daniel Mendoza De Arce, Music in Ibero-America to 1850 (Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2001), 69.
school of Santa Cruz in Santiago de Tlatelolco, a school built by the Franciscans in 1536
to educate the children of the Aztec nobility. Franco probably chose his Spanish name at
the time of his baptism, taking the name of the well-respected composer of Spanish
origin, Hernando Franco, who also worked in Mexico. The first song in the anthology is
Dios itlaconantzine, a chanzoneta by Don Hernando Franco written in Nahuatl, the
language of the Aztecs, around 1599. The fact that music composition was not taught at
the Santiago de Tlatelolco School might explain certain weaknesses in the composers
use of counterpoint.7 However, a few harmonic errors in the form of parallel fifths and
octaves do not make this original work less poignant in its simplicity.
Dios itlaconantzine (c. 1599), by Don Hernando Franco

Original text
Dios itlaconantzine cemicac
Ichpochtle cenca
Timitztotla tlauh tiliya ma topan
Ximotlatolti yn ilhuicac ixpantzinco
In motlaco conetzin Jesu Christo
Ca onpa timoyeztica
Yn inahuactzinco
Yn motlaco conetzin Jesu Christo.
English translation8
Oh precious Mother of God,
Oh eternal Virgin, we earnestly
Implore of Thee, intercede for us.
In heaven thou art in the presence
Of thy dearest Son, Jesus Christ,
For thou art there beside Him.
In heaven thou art in the presence
Of thy dearest Son, Jesus Christ.
First Printed Music in the Americas

Beginning with the first voyages to the Americas, conquerors and explorers brought
books among their belongings. Lay people carried their favorite books, including a few
prohibited by the Inquisition, while religious people brought printed material for use in
Ibid., 88.
Robert Stevenson, Music in Aztec and Inca Territory (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968),
206.
church. Once European composers started migrating to the Americas, they brought
European works, either in print or in manuscripts.
During the 16th century around 200 books were published in Mexico City, most of a
religious nature. The oldest extant book from Mexico is a catechism in Spanish and
Nahuatl that dates from 1539. Of those first 200 books, 13 contained music: plainchant
portions of the Mass, plainchant sung during canonical hours, antiphons, and other
musical forms.
Juan Prez Bocanegra

It was not until 1631 that the Americas saw the first printed publication of a polyphonic
piecein Peru. This four-part chanzoneta, Hanacpachap, is attributed to Juan Prez
Bocanegra, a Franciscan priest from Cuzco. Written in Quechua, it compares the praise of
Mother Earth to the praise of the Virgin Mary, and it was meant to be sung during
processions. It is a beautiful musical example of the cultural syncretism that had been
going on in the Americas for over 100 years.
Hanacpachap cussicuinin (c. 1631), attributed to Juan Prez Bocanegra

Original text
Hanacpachap cussicuinin
Huarancacta muchascaiqui
Yupayruru pucomallqui
Runacuna suyacuinin
Heaven's joy!
a thousand times shall we praise you.
O tree bearing thrice-blessed fruit,
O hope of humankind,
English translation public domain

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Hanacpachap_cussicuinin_(Anonymous); Internet, accessed
4/13/2011.
10
Callpannapa quemicuinin
Huayias caita.
helper of the weak.

hear our prayer!
Uyarihuay muchascaita
Dios parampam Dios pamaman
Yuratoto pamancaiman
Yupascalla collpascaita
Huahuarquiman suyascaita
Ricuchillai.
Attend to our pleas,

O column of ivory, Mother of God!
Beautiful iris, yellow and white,
receive this song we offer you;
come to our assistance,
show us the Fruit of your womb!
The fact that both Hanacpachap and Dios itlaconantzine are among the first works of
music ever written in the Americas would justify their performance as part of a program
dedicated to music of the Americas. They would also complement a program as part of a
set dedicated to sacred choral music in Latin or in any other language. As a Marian song,
Dios itlaconantzine could be part of a set dedicated to the Virgin, and Hanacpachap
could be the perfect processional piece to open any program.
The Viceroyalties: Governance by Church and State

The colonies were governed from Spain by a system of virreinatos (viceroyalties). The
Viceroyalty of New Spain was the first, established in 1535 after the conquest of the
Aztec Empire. Its capital was Mexico City (formerly Tenochtitln), and it eventually
comprised all the Spanish territories of North America, the Caribbean, and Central
America (except Panama).10 The second most important was the Viceroyalty of Peru,
created in 1542 after the conquest of the Inca Empire, with its capital at Lima. It
10
The Philippine Islands were also incorporated in this viceroyalty in 1565. The administrative units of the
New Spain Viceroyalty included Las Californias, Nueva Extremadura, Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico, Santo
Domingo, Guatemala, Guadalajara, and Manila.
11
originally comprised most of South America (except Venezuela) as well as Panama.11
The church in the Americas was nurtured financially and legislatively by the Spanish
crown, and it had more cultural and political influence than in Spain itself.12 Every
virreinato had a bishop or archbishop who governed the church with the assistance of a
cabildo (council of clergymen). The bishop recommended the chapel masters to be hired
and was also in charge of writing the rules for the music chapel. The cabildo, which had
jurisdiction over the city and surrounding areas within the diocese, voted on
appointments, contracts, salaries, promotions, demotions, and dismissals of music
employees.
In Spain and Spanish America, during most of the 16th century the chantre was the
person in charge of music in the cathedral. He was the liaison between the chapter and
the musicians. In addition to singing, the chantre had to teach singing and rehearse the
choir. Eventually the maestro de capilla (chapel master) inherited the responsibilities of
the chantre. He was expected to direct the choir and the instrumentalists, choose or
compose the music for the liturgy, and teach music to the choirboys (the seises or mozos
de coro). He was the master music teacher of the church and, therefore, of the
community. Since he was expected to compose and perform music of the highest caliber,
he needed to be extremely knowledgeable about counterpoint and figural harmony.
11
The Viceroyalty of Peru comprised the administrative units of Panama (1535), Lima (1542), Santa Fe de
Bogot (1549), Charcas (1559), Quito (1563), Chile (1609), and Buenos Aires (1661). With the
establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1739 and the Viceroyalty of Rio de La Plata in 1776,
Peru lost authority first over Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama, and then over Argentina, Uruguay,
Paraguay, and Chile.
12
Burkholder and Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 92-93.
12
Following the European tradition, Spanish American cathedrals had two types of
choruses: the coro bajo, made up of clergy (cannigos and capellanes de coro) who
specialized in the interpretation of plainchant and prayers; and the coro alto, made up of
professional singers who could be either clergy or laymen.13 The professional musicians
who played the instruments were called ministriles.
In the cathedrals the most important instrument was the organ, but other continuo
instruments, such as the harp and bass viol, were also used. Other instruments that would
double or substitute for the voices were the recorders, shawms, sackbuts, cornets, and the
soprano, tenor, and bass bajones (bassoons).
Music in the Cathedrals

The best-known intellectuals, artists, and musicians of the 16th and 17th centuries were
related to the church: under the auspices of the church these persons were allowed to
create and also received financial support and stability. The music performed in
American churches was the same as that performed in the cathedrals of Spain: plainchant,
cantatas and oratorios, and polyphonic and concerted motets in the form of anthems,
hymns, psalms, and sacred songs. Compositions by the best composers of Spain and
Europefor example, Cristbal de Morales, Palestrina, Lassus, and Victoriawere
found in the cathedral libraries of the New World. During the second half of the 16th
century, a period of prosperity in Spain, the development and expansion of urban
13
Egberto Bermudez, La msica en el arte colonial de Colombia (Colombia: Fundacin de Msica, 1994),
46-48.
13
ecclesiastical musical activities were encouraged in both Spain and the New World.
According to musicologist Egberto Bermdez, the clergy became more influential in the
establishment of social and cultural institutions in America. A thriving church offered
musicians improved professional, social and economic opportunities. 14 Thus it is no
surprise that vast amounts of cathedral music15 were produced in Mexico and Peru.
Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo (ca.1533-1620)

The careers of Spanish composers like Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo (ca. 1553-1620)
exemplify the mobility, dynamism, and opportunities available in Spanish musical
spheres.16 Born in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Fernndez Hildago is considered an
outstanding composer of polyphony. By the time he arrived in Bogot, Colombia, he was
already an accomplished musician. The bishop named him chapel master of the Bogot
Cathedral and rector of the San Luis seminary. The Bogot Cathedrals libro de coro, a
choir book dated 1584, contained some of Fernndez Hildagos best compositionsten
psalms, three Salves, and nine settings of the Magnificat on the ecclesiastic tonesalong
with music by Francisco Guerrero, Rodrigo de Ceballos, and Toms Luis de Victoria.
After a brief stay in Colombia, Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo became chapel master for
several years at Quito Cathedral in what is now Ecuador. Then he moved to the city of
Cuzco (Peru) until 1597, when he became chapel master at the cathedral of La Plata in
Egberto Bermdez, Urban musical life in the European colonies: Examples from Spanish America in
1560-1650, in Music and Musicians in Renaissance Cities and Towns, ed. Fiona Kisby (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2001), 42
15
Cathedral music refers not only to the music practiced in the cathedrals, but also to music performed by
other religious organizations such as monasteries, convents, and religious schools.
16
Ibid.
14
14
modern-day Bolivia, where he stayed until his death. The music chapels at these
cathedrals benefited greatly from his high level of musicianship as teacher and composer.
In his music, Fernndez Hidalgo experiments with different textures, he varies the
placement of the plainchant formula among the voices and makes good use of canonical
imitation.17 These traits can be appreciated in his beautiful setting of the psalm Laetatus
Sum in His. The motet is introduced by a reciting tone, continues with two subdivided
sections, and ends with the Gloria Patri. The first two subdivisions start with a solid
homophonic measure followed by several polyphonic measures; the first superior voice is
almost a literal quote from the chant. The third section shows some canonic writing
between the tenor and the second superior voice. According to Gerard Bhague, Gutierre
Fernndez Hidalgos music shows a superior mastery of technique that places him among
the best composers of the late Renaissance period.18
Laetatus Sum in His, motet by Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo

Original text
Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi:
In domum Domini bimus.
I rejoiced at the words that were spoken

unto me:
We shall go into the house of the Lord
Stantes erant pedes nostri in atriis tuis,

Jerusalem;
Our feet were standing in your courts, O

Jerusalem,
Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus,

tribus Domini, testimonium Israel,
For whither the tribes ascended, the tribes

of the Lord. Israels covenant is to profess
17
Mendoza De Arce, Music in Ibero-America, 135.

Gerard Bhague, Music in Latin America: an introduction, 29-30.
19
Ron Jeffers, comp., Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire,Vol. I (Corvallis: earthsongs,
1988) 136.
18
15
ad confitendum nomini Domini.
the name of the Lord.
Rogate quae ad pacem sunt Jerusalem

et abundantia diligentibus te.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,

Ask abundance for those that love you.
Propter fratres meos et proximos meos

loquebar pacem de te.
For the sake of my brothers and neighbors,

I have spoken peace into you;
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and

to the Holy Spirit.
Juan Gutirrez de Padilla (ca. 1590-1664)

Juan Gutirrez de Padilla is one of the most performed and researched composers of
colonial Mexico. He was born around 1590 in the southern Spanish city of Mlaga, where
he studied with Francisco Vzquez, the chapel master of Mlaga Cathedral. By the time
he left Spain he had been chapel master of the cathedrals at Jerez de la Frontera and
Cdiz. In 1622 he arrived in the prosperous Mexican city of Puebla, whose cathedral
choir and music school were well known throughout New Spain and Spain.
Located between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz, the city of Puebla was one of the
richest and most important cities of Mexico. The citys wealthy Bishop Juan de Palafox y
Mendoza, an art lover, had donated a library, and under his leadership money was
invested in the cathedrals music: the choir, the instrumentalists, and a music library that
included works by such major European composers as Victoria, De Morales, and the
Franco-Flemish Phillipe Rogier. This was the fertile musical environment that Gutirrez
de Padilla found on arriving in Puebla. He became singer and assistant to chapel master
Gaspar Fernandes, and he succeeded to the chapel master position on Fernandess death
in 1629.
16
Gutirrez de Padillas sacred music, modeled after the Renaissance polyphonic style of
the Spanish cathedrals, included Latin masses (of which his Misa Ego Flos Campi is the
best known), motets, vespers, psalms, hymns, responsories, passions, lamentations, and
litanies. Equally comfortable with the vernacular form as with formal Latin music, he
also composed several villancicos, including negrillos. Juan Gutirrezs music was
greatly esteemed during his lifetime. In 1663 the Cathedral Chapter had all of his music
collected and bound in a large choir book that is still preserved at the Puebla Cathedral.20
Most of Gutierrez de Padillas works were written for double chorus; a brilliant example
is his setting of Psalm 32, Exsultate Iusti in Domino. He conceives each choir as a fourpart unit, using both choirs together as often as he alternates them, in both polyphonic
and homophonic sections. 21 He uses both imitative counterpoint and antiphonal singing
to create a magnificent effect.
Psalm 32, Exsultate Iusti in Domino, by Juan Gutirrez de Padilla

Original text
Exsultate justi in Domino:
rectos decet collaudatio.
Confitemini Domino in cithara.
In psalterio decem chordarum psallite illi.
Cantate ei canticum novum.
Bene psallite ei in vociferacione
quia rectum est verbum Domini
Rejoice, o righteous, in the Lord:
praise is fitting for the upright.
Give thanks to God with harp:
sing praises to him with the psaltery of ten
strings.
Sing to him a new song,
Play well with loud voices.
For the word of the Lord is right,
20
Martyn Imrie, CD cover notes, Streams of tears, The Sixteen, COR 16059.
Bhague, Music in Latin America, 20.
22
Jeffers, Translations and Annotation, 125.
21
17
et omnia opera ejus in fide.
And all his works are done in faithfulness.
Diligit misericordiam et judicium

Misericordia Domini plena est terra
Verbo Domini caeli firmati sunt
He loves righteousness and judgment:

The earth is full of His kindness.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were
made
And the spirit of them by the breath of his
mouth.
Et spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum.
There is nothing in the compositional style of Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo and Juan
Gutirrez de Padilla that makes their compositions distinctively Latin American.
Although they were composed in the Americas, these works adhered to the norms and
standards of the European composers of the time. Therefore, when considering repertoire
for a choir program, Laetatus Sum in His could complete a set of psalms composed by
others or could be paired with another European Renaissance motet suitable for chamber
choir. Since Exultate Iusti in Domino was conceived for double choir it would be
appropriate for an experienced larger ensemble. Gutirrez de Padillas music is
reminiscent of the music the Italian composer Gabrieli created for the cathedral of
Venice, and it would be the perfect piece to imitate those acoustics by having the choirs
sing from different sides.
Villancicos in the Americas: Music in the Vernacular

Villancicos were as popular in the colonies as in Spain, and were performed as part of the
liturgy during the many religious festivities of the Catholic ChurchChristmas and
Epiphany, Holy Week, Corpus Christi, and all the feasts related to patron saints and to the
Virgin. As in Spain, villancicos in the Americas often featured representatives of
minority groupsthe Blacks and Indians who populated the conquered continent. The
18
American negros, negrillos, or guineas imitated the Africans accents and jargon, often
using real words from African-native languages and dialects.
However, we must be careful not to think of this phenomenon as the colonial counterpart
of the multiculturalism that is so valued in the 21st century. When studying this repertoire
we should not forget the brutal conditions in which Blacks then lived: even when they
outnumbered the European population, most were slaves and lived mainly segregated
from the rest of society. Spanish professional musicians were not interested in creating
fusions of European and indigenous musicthey wanted to sound like Spaniards, even in
the occasional piece in which they parodied Africans (hardly the same as cultural
exchange).23
To better understand the creation of the negrillos, we need to be aware of the important
contributions of the people of African descent in Spain and the Americas. Even before
the time of the conquest, southern Spain was a culturally diverse place. The Portuguese
had been trading slaves from Africa to the Iberian Peninsula since 1441. By the time
Columbus arrived in the Americas, more than 35,000 black slaves had reached Portugal,
and by the late 15th century the Spanish cities of Seville and Valencia had large
populations of slaves who worked as domestic servants and unskilled laborers.24 They
were organized by a system of cofradas (brotherhoods) associated with the church.
According to Robert Stevenson, as early as 1403 there was a black cofrada at Seville
23
Geoff Baker, Latin American Baroque: performance as a post-colonial act?, Early Music 36, No. 3
(August 2008): 441-448.
24
19
with its own chapel.25 These brotherhoods contributed to the already diverse cultural
atmosphere of Andalusa with their festivities, which included floats, dances, and music.
In Latin America the cofradas became a refuge and a melting pot of traditions,
allowing people from different regions and conditions to gather and perpetuate some of
their rituals and customs under the guise of Christian religious ceremonies while also
assimilating important aspects of the European heritage.26
Two villancicos included in this anthology, Eso rigor e repente and Los coflades de la
estleya, show the great influence that the communities of African descent had on the
music of Latin America.
Gaspar Fernandes (ca. 1570-1629)

Gaspar Fernandes, a Portuguese-born composer, worked as chapel master in Antigua,
Guatemala, before coming to Puebla, Mexico. Even though Fernandes composed some
sacred liturgical music such as Masses and Magnificats, he was most prolific in writing
secular music. He left manuscripts of more than 300 polyphonic compositions written
between 1609 and 1616the most outstanding collection of chanzonetas and villancicos
from the Ibero-American world in the first years of the 17th century. Fernandes used
different languages and dialects for his villancicos. Some of his songs have become very
popular among early music ensemblesfor example, Xicochi conetzintle and
Tleycantimo choquiliya, two beautiful Christmas lullabies written in Nahuatl, the
25
Robert Stevenson, The Afro-American Musical Legacy, The Musical Quarterly 54, No. 4 (October
1968): 484.
26
Mendoza De Arce, Music in Ibero-America, 83
20
language of the Aztecs.
Eso rigor e repente is one of these pieces. A guineo for five voices, it was written in 6/8
time with frequent hemiola shifts in 3/4, a common characteristic of the African
villancicos. The texture of the refrain is that of a soloist answered by the chorus: a call
and response style.
Eso rigor e repente, guineo by Gaspar Fernandes

Original text
Ese rigor e repente
Juro a qui se niyo siquito
Aunque nace poco branquito turu
Somo nosso parente.
No tememo branco grande
Tenle plimo, tenle calje
Husie husie paracie
Toca negriyo tamboritiyo
Canta Parente.
This I say firmly:

I swear that that little child,
Although he was born white,
Is our relative.
We are not afraid of the Big White Guy.
Lets go cousins, lets dance!
Husihe husihe paraia,
Play little dark boy, play the little drum.
Relative, sing. Relative, play.
REFRAIN:
Sarabanda, tenge que tenge
Sumbaca su cucumbe
Ese noche branco seremo
O Jesu que risa tenemo
O que risa Santo Tom.
REFRAIN:
Sarabanda tenge que tenge
Sumbacasu cucumbe
This night we will become white.
Oh, Jesus, how we laugh;
Oh, how we laugh, Saint Thomas.
VERSES:
Vamo negro de Guinea
A lo pesebrito sola.
No vamo negro de Angola
Que sa turu negla fea
Queremo que nio vea
Negro pulizo y galano
VERSES:
Black guy from Guinea,
Lets go to the manger by ourselves.
The ones from Angola, dont go,
Because you are ugly.
We want the child to see the Blacks neat and
elegant;
27
Translation by Christopher Moroney 2000, WLP. Taken from http://www.savae.org/noche.html;

Internet; accessed 4/22/2011.
21
Que como sa noso hermano

Tenemo ya fantasia
Toca villano y follia
Bailaremo alegremente
Since He is our brother,

we have a desire.
Play a villano and a folia, we will
dance happily.
Gargantiya de granate
Yegamo a lo sequitivo
Manteyya rebosico
Confite curubacate
Y le cura a te faxue
La guante camisa
Capisayta de frisa
Canutiyo de tabaco
Toca preso pero beyaco
Guitarrea alegremente
Canta parente:
We bring a garnet necklace;

We bring to the child
An adorned lace scarf,
Candies from Curubacate.
Gloves and shirt,
A cape,
and a rolled cigar.
Play quickly, but with skill;
Play the guitar joyfully;
Sing, my relatives.
Juan de Araujo (1646-1714)

As a young man, Juan de Araujo arrived in Lima, Peru, with his father, who was a civil
official from Spain. He attended the University of San Marcos and became maestro de
capilla of Limas Cathedral from 1672 to 1676 before accepting a chapel mastership at
Panama Cathedral. In 1680 he took charge of music at the Chuquisaca Cathedral in what
is now Bolivia. Araujo is considered one of the most remarkable musicians of this period
in Latin America. He wrote sacred music for two or more choirs including a Passion, a
Salve Regina, and a Dixit Dominus for 11 parts. Of around 158 compositions that
survive, 142 are villancicos. His negro villancicos show his ability and creativity in
handling vernacular texts by endowing his settings with a secular music flavor through
the use of syncopation in ternary meter.28 Like Gaspar Fernandes, Araujo often used
syncopation within the 6/8 meter in his villancicos adding interest to the work by
constantly moving from duple to triple meter.
28
Mendoza de Arce, Music in Iberoamerica, 149.
22
Los coflades de la estleya was the first negro villancico printed in South America. This
villancico is about a group of Blacks from the cofrada on their way to Bethlehem to visit
their little Lord singing the refrain Gulumb, gulumb, gulumb. The text refers to
the Blacks from Guinea and Angola and mentions the ancient African city of Safala in
Mozambique. The coplas are sung antiphonally.
Los coflades de la estleya, by Juan de Araujo

Original text
Los coflades de la estleya
English translation
vamo turus a Beleya

y velemo a ziola beya
con Siolo en la poltal.
Vamo, vamo curendo aya!
Oylemo un viyansico
que lo compondla Flasico siendo
gayta su fosico
y luego lo cantala
Blasico, Pellico, Zuanico y Tom
y lo estliviyo dila:
Brothers and sisters of the League of the

Star
lets all go now to Bethlehem,
where well see our lovely Lady
with our little Lord in the stable.
Lets go, lets go running there!
Well hear a carol
that Francisco will compose
with a gourd to keep the beat;
then Blas, Pedro, Juan and Toms
will sing it,
and the refrain will go:
Gulumb, gulumb, gulumb

guache, guache molenio de Safala.
Gulumb, gulumb, gulumb.

Guach, guach! O blacks from Safala!
Bamo a bel que traen de Angola

a ziolo y a ziola
Baltasale con Melchola
y mi plimo Gasipar
Vamo, vamo curendo aya!
Lets see what

Baltasar, Melchor and my cousin Gaspar
are bringing from Angola
to Our Lady and our little Lord.
Lets go, lets go running there!


Vamo siguiendo la estleyaEya!

lo negliyo coltezanoVamo!
lets go, and follow the star, O yeah!

So all you blacks who work at court,Lets
go!
23
pus lo Reye cun tesuroturo

de calmino los tlesbanaya!
Blasico, Pelico, Zuanico y Tom,
aya! vamo tura aya!
behind the kings with the treasureAll of

us!
they carry across the desertTo the stable!
And you, Blas, Pedro, Juan and Toms,
lets all get going now,


Vamo turuz loz Negliosplimos

pues nos yeba nostla estleyabeya
que sin tantuz neglos folmennoche
mucha luz en lo poltalabl
plimos, beya noche abl!
Lets go then, all you blacksCousins!

for it guides us there, our starLovely!
from it, like lightning dazzling bright
Tonight!
Lots of light upon the stableWill shine!
And you, Blas, Pedro, Juan and Toms,
cousins, what a lovely night therell be!


Vaya
nuestra cofladialinda
Pues que nos yeba la eztleianuestla
tlas lo Reye pulque hayadanza
que pala al nio aleglanra
linda nuestla danza ra!
Move out,
you members of the LeagueLovely!
for our star is guiding usOur own star
behind the kings, for thereDancing!
to make the Child happyThey go!
O yes, Blas, Pedro, Juan and Toms
our dance will go nicely,


Vamo alegle al poltarioplimo

velemo junto al peseblebueye
que sin tantuz neglos folmennoche
mucha luz en lo poltalabl
plimos neglos bueye ez!
Lets go with joy to the little stable

Cousins!
Together around the crib well seeOxen,
the shepherds and the kingWhos black!
singing to the little LordWho lies there!
Blas, Pedro, Juan and Toms
black cousins, come see the oxen there.


The villancico is the quintessential musical form of the Spanish and Latin American
Baroque. The villancicos rhythmic complexity makes them a challenge for any good
24
college choir or early music ensemble; and, since most were written for the Christmas
season, they would be a good addition to any holiday program. The villancicos of
Fernandes and Araujo present an opportunity to be creative with instrumentation; for
example, the conductor may wish to add percussion instruments from the Native
American and Afro-American cultures. Fortunately there are many recordings and
articles about this music that can provide ideas and guidance.
The Eighteenth Century

Music from the Jesuit Missions
The conversion of the Indians, the theoretical justification for the Iberian presence in the
Indies, was the churchs initial priority. 29 Therefore, once music was understood to be
one of the most powerful and effective tools of conversion, the religious orders began
establishing missions as places for establishing values and ways of life.
The first missions in the Americas were organized by the Franciscans, Augustinians,
Dominicans, and Mercedarios, who had begun arriving from the beginning of the
conquest. The relatively newly founded order of the Jesuits came into the picture a bit
later. Founded in Spain by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1540, the Society of Jesus was
granted the right to colonize and Christianize the Guarani Indians in Paraguay by King
Phillip III of Spain, to protect them from the slave raiders. The Jesuits agreed to work
with the populations closer to the fringe areas of the Spanish colonies, on the border
between the two most powerful colonial territories of Spain and Portugal.
29
25
To settle the mostly nomadic native groups from this region, the Jesuits founded several
towns. These settlements were highly structured communities: everyone, Indians and
missionaries alike, worked the land that belonged to the whole community. The crops
were shared among all inhabitants, and public services were provided to the poor and
needy. There were hospitals and schools, and the members of the community elected and
appointed their own town officials. The Jesuits were more flexible than other mission
groups, and they allowed the natives to retain and use their language and to practice many
of their cultural customs and traditions. The artisans from the missions were organized in
associations by their tradefor example, shoemakers, painters, sculptors, blacksmiths,
weavers, and musical instrument makers.30 By the end of the 18th century, when the
Society of Jesus was expelled from South America, about 250,000 natives were living in
about 100 of the towns the Jesuits had founded.
In a scene from the 1986 movie The Mission, Jeremy Irons, playing the character of a
Jesuit priest, begins to play his oboe, in the hope that the beautiful melody will attract the
Guarani natives who live in the area. Fascinated by the sounds of the oboe, the natives
gather around him to listen, and eventually invite him to go with them. That movie scene
may have not been that far removed from reality, since the natives of the Americas were
in many ways enthralled by the music of the conquerors.
Music education was emphasized in the Jesuit missions (also called reductions). The
30
Geoffrey A.P.Groesbeck, The Jesuit Missions in Bolivia; http://www.boliviabella.com/jesuit-missionsin-bolivia.html; Internet; accessed 1/22/2011.
26
priests taught singing, composing, and instrumental playing. They also taught the natives
how to make musical instruments, including violins and harps. Thus the Jesuit order in
particulara source of capable musicians from varied European national and cultural
backgrounds31was responsible for the high level of musical attainment among the
natives. The Jesuits were mostly Spaniards, but there were also Italians, Germans,
French, Dutch, and others among them. One of the most talented Jesuit priests was a
Swiss musician and architect, the Reverend Martin Schmidt (1694-1772). In a letter to his
brother in 1744 he wrote, Today, all our towns have an organ and sets of violins, cellos,
and basses, all made of cedarwood; they have harpsichords, spinets, harps, trumpets and
shawms, etc. all by my making, and I have taught the Indians how to play them. 32 As an
architect he was also responsible for the design of many of the mission churches.
Domenico Zipoli (1688-1726)

In the 1970s, while restoring some of the churches in the Missions of Chiquitos in the
northeastern part of what is now Bolivia, the Swiss architect Hans Roth found and
recovered a group of manuscripts that had somehow survived for 250 years in the humid
climate of this region. Among the most important compositions in the collection are those
by Domenico Zipoli, a musician of Italian origin 33 who was an organist and composer. A
contemporary of Casini, Caldara, and Alessandro Scarlatti, Zipoli is best known for his
published keyboard collection Sonate dintavolatura per organo e cimbalo. In 1716 he
31
32
T. Frank Kennedy, Colonial Music from the Episcopal Archive of Concepcin, Bolivia, Latin
American Music Review 9, No. 1 (Spring-Summer, 1988), 3.

33
Zipoli was born in the city of Pratos, few miles from Florence.
27
joined the Society of Jesus in Seville, and the following year he embarked for South
America with a group of missionaries, settling in Crdoba, Argentina. Even though he
finished all the required courses to become a priest, he was never ordained because
Crdoba had no bishop.
There is little sign of grandeur in any of the works from this collection of Zipolis music.
The melodic and harmonic simplicity, the limited use of the orchestra (one or two
obbligato instruments and basso continuo), and a very modest harmonic and contrapuntal
structure may be explained by the fact that music composed in the reductions was
functional, meant to be played exclusively during the liturgical services. In contrast with
the music composed for the imposing cathedrals of the great American cities where
longer polychoral works were being performed, the simple music from the reductions
of Chiquitos serves as testament to one of the most practical and important musical
experiences of colonial times.
Domine ad adjuvandum me is an example of the works produced during this period. It

was written by Domenico Zipoli in C major, using a simple melodic and harmonic
language. The choral texture is entirely homophonic and the orchestra accompaniment
includes two violins and continuo. The fact that it was written for soprano, alto and tenor
makes it suitable for young voices. The conductor should add dynamics to provide
contrast. To better appreciate and enjoy the music from this period it is critical to provide
the historical context to both the performers and the audience.
28
Domine ad adjuvandum me, by Domenico Zipoli

Original text
Domine in adjuvandum me festina

Deus, in adjutorium meum intende
Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio,
et Spiritu Sancto.
Lord, make haste to help me

God, come to my assistance.
Lord make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper.
As it was in the beginning is now, and will

be forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
Amen. Alleluia
Two American Composers

Manuel de Sumaya (1680-1740)
Manuel de Sumaya was born in Mexico City in about 1680. By this time the music of
Spain and Ibero-America had undergone a transformation. Although the church, with its
musical institutions, still had great financial resources at its disposal, the influence of
Italian music in Spain and the rest of Europe had reached the New World, and many
Italian composers and musicians could be found working in some of the Ibero-American
cathedrals.
Manuel de Sumaya is considered to be one of the most important Novohispano

composers from the colonial period. According to musicologist Robert Stevenson,
Manuel de Sumaya occupies a place in Mexican music equal to that of Jos de Orejn y
Aparicio in Peruvian music. These two organist-composers outdistance all musicians
34
Translation taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_in_adjutorium_meum_intende; Internet;

accessed 4/22/2011.
29
known to have been born on American soil before 1800.35
Sumaya was a child prodigy who was trained as choirboy and organist in Mexico Citys
cathedral. He was a prolific composer in both the Latin and the vernacular genres. In
1711, after a challenging competition, he succeeded his composition teacher, Antonio de
Salazar, as maestro de capilla of Mexico Citys cathedral. In 1739 he moved to Oaxaca,
where in 1742 he became chapel master. While in Oaxaca he taught and mentored many
talented musicians, and he expanded the resources of the new capilla as he had done in
Mexico City. Under his leadership copies of major choral collections and choir books
were commissioned for both cathedrals.
Sumayas skills as composer and organist and his command of the Italian language were
recognized even by the viceroy, Duke de Linares, who in 1711 commissioned an opera
from him. Sumayas Partenope was the first opera written by a composer born in the
Americas.
Steven Barwick, in his book Two Mexico City Choirbooks of 1717, describes Sumaya as
a sensitive composer with a highly developed contrapuntal technique36 De
Lamantatione Jeremiae, Sabbato Sancto was written for the first nocturne of Holy
Saturday matins. While Sumaya wrote the piece in the stile antico of the Renaissance
period, his use of harmony is closer to that of Baroque technique.
35
Robert Stevenson, Mexico City Cathedral Music: 1600-1750, The Americas 21, No.2 (October 1964):
124.
36
Steven Barwick, Two Mexico City Choirbooks of 1717: An anthology of sacred polyphony from the
Cathedral of Mexico (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1982), xi.
30
Example 1: Symetry in Sumayas Lamentations

Section 1
Heth (1)
Slow & Consonant
cantus firmus in Alto
Section 3
Section 2
Teth (1)
Slow & Consonant
cantus firmus in Soprano
Iod (1)
Slow & Consonant
cantus firmus in Tenor
Heth(2)
Active &
Imitative
Teth(2)
Active &
Imitative
Iod(2)
Active &
Imitative
cantus firmus in
cantus firmus in
cantus firmus in
Bass
Bass
Bass
Heth (3)
Slow & Consonant
cantus firmus in Tenor
Teth (3)
Slow & Consonant
cantus firmus in Alto
Concluding
Phrase
HierusalemHierusalem
Iod (1)
Slow & Consonant
cantus firmus in Soprano
Source: Craig H. Russells article Manuel de Sumaya: Reexamining the

a Capella Choral Music of a Mexican Master
Sumaya was a master of balance and symmetry. As we can observe in his Lamentations,
he carefully planned architectural formal structures.37 Each poetic line is introduced by
a Hebrew letter (Heth, Teth, Iod), and each letter is used three times in sequence to
introduce three different poetic lines. In the Lamentations, Sumaya follows the first use
of each Hebrew letter with slow and consonant music, the second with active and
imitative music, and the third with slow and consonant music.
37
Craig H. Russell, Manuel de Sumaya: Reexamining the a Cappella Choral Music of a Mexican
Master. In Encomium Musicae: Essays in Honor of Robert J. Snow, ed. David Crawford and George
Grayson Wagstaff, 91- 106. Hillsdale: Pendragon Press, 2002.
31
To reinforce the symmetrical structure, Sumaya quotes the Spanish Lamentation tone
every time a Hebrew letter is sung. He distributes this privilege of quotations equally
among the voices: the soprano, the alto and tenor each quote the tune on two separate
occasions. Since there are nine occurrences of the Lamentation tone, Sumaya assigns the
bass to sing it one extra time.
In several places Sumaya uses word painting to show the emotions in the text. For
example, on the phrase Bonum est praestolari cum silencio (It is good to wait in
silence), Sumaya illustrates the word silence by adding a quarter note rest right after the
word silencio.
De Lamentationes Jeremiae has been recorded by the acclaimed American male choral
ensemble Chanticleer.38
De Lamentatione Jeremiae, Sabbato Sancto, by Manuel de Sumaya

Original text
Heth. Misericordiae Domini quia non
sumus comsumpti: quian non defecerunt
miserationes ejus
Heth. The favors of the Lord are not

exhausted, his mercies are not spent.
Heth. Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.
Heth. They are renewed each morning, so

great is his faithfulness.
Heth. Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea:
Heth. My portion is the Lord, says my soul;
38
39
Chanticleer. Mexican Baroque, Teldec LC 6019, 1994, CD.

Ibid., xxxiv.
32
propterea exspectabo eum.
therefore will I hope in him.
Teth. Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in

eum, animae quaerenti illum.
Teth. Good is the Lord to one who waits

for him, to the soul that seeks him.
Teth. Bonum est praestorali cum silentio

salutare Dei.
Teth. It is good to hope in silence for the

saving help of the Lord.
Teth. Bonum est viro, cum portaverit

jugum ab adolescentia sua.
Teth. It is good for a man to bear the yoke

from his youth.
Jod. Sedebit solitarius, et tacebit: quia

levavit super se.
Jod. Let him sit alone and in silence, when

it is laid upon him.
Jod. Ponet in pulvere os suum, si forte sit

spes.
Jod. Let him put his mouth to the dust;

there may yet be hope.
Jod. Dabit percutienti se maxillam,

saturabitur opprobriis.
Jod. Let him offer his cheek to be struck,

let him be filled with disgrace.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, convertere ad

Dominum Deum tuum.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord

your God.
Jos de Orejn y Aparicio (1705-1765)

Born in Huacho, Peru, Jos de Orejn de Aparicio probably studied under chapel master
Rocco Ceruti (ca. 1685-1760), a violinist and composer born in Italy whose Neapolitan
style had brought a secular spirit to the cathedrals music.40 This contact with Cerutis
music may explain the strong Italian style de Orejn y Aparicio showed in his
compositions. His music has been compared to that of Pergolesi, for the sentimental and
lyrical tone of much sacred Italian music of the time.41
De Orejn y Aparicio succeeded Ceruti as Limas chapel master, becoming the first
40
41
33
Peruvian-born composer to hold that position. He is considered to be one of the greatest

composers of 18th century Peru.42 Like other musicians from this period, he was wellrounded in the areas of literature, art, and philosophy; and like his Mexican counterpart
Manuel de Sumaya, he was also a virtuoso organ player. His Passion del Viernes Santo
(St. John Passion), written in 1750 for three choirs, is considered his most imposing
work.
The cantata En el Da Festivo is one of de Orejn y Aparicios Baroque-style cantatas,

written in vernacular Spanish for SSAT choir; soprano 1, soprano 2, and alto soli; and
two violins and continuo. The composition is an exaltation to festivity and to
happiness.43 The text exalts the Virgin through celebration and happiness in nature. For
example, with the Spanish word trino, which literally means a birds chirping, the
composer is also referring to the human voice joyfully singing. De Orejn y Aparicio
shows a preference for a higher tessitura, a common practice in choral music from this
period in the colonies. The chorus parts alternate between contrapuntal and homophonic
passages, providing textural diversity, and the recitatives are in different keys from the
principal key of the work. In this case, even though the work is in C major, the alto aria is
in the neighboring key of D minor.
42
Ibid., 43.
Diana Fernndez Calvo, Jose de Orejn y Aparicio: La msica y su contexto (Lima: Universidad
Catlica Sedes Sapientiae, 2009) 63.
43
34
En el Da Festivo, by Jos de Orejn y Aparicio

Original Text
English Translation44
Coro
En el da festivo voy dichoso
Que ilustra el afecto la aurora mejor
Celebren y aplaudan su fulgido triunfo
Con votos la dicha, con trinos, con trinos,
Con luces, la voz.
Y elebando sus inclitas glorias
La vaga region del heroyco,
Brillante misterio, brillante misterio,
Se canten las luces con mucho primor,
Se canten, las luces con mucho, con mucho
primor.
Chorus
Blessed I go on this holy day
As dawn illuminates true love
Celebrate its brilliant victory,
Its felicity with vows, with singing, with
singing,
With lights, the voice.
And praising its highest glories
The uncertain territory of the heroic
Brilliant mystery, brilliant mystery,
Sing of its light with care,
Sing of its light with care, with care
Soprano Recitative
Disponed el anhelo en digno aplauso,
A tan sacro buelo,
Pues con alas, lucientes
De espritu ardiente,
A la morada eterna de victoria
Oy coronada fue de nueba gloria.
Recitative
Set aside sorrow in praise
Of the most holy flight,
Flown on wings glowing
With burning spirit,
To the eternal house of triumph,
Soprano Aria
Mas como piadosa o madre de amor (bis),
Te vas luminosa al centro mayor,
Mas como piadosa, o madre de amor
Te vas luminosa al centro, al centro, al
centro mayor.
Atiende al ferbor de aquellos que amados
Se ven desterrados, sin tu alto favor,
Atiende al ferbor de aquellos que amados
Se ven desterrados sin tu alto favor, sin tu
alto favor.
Aria
As a saint, or compassionate mother (bis),
You go, shining, to the city center,
As a saint, or compassionate mother,
You go, shining, to the city center.
Tend to the fervor of those who love You
So much that they feel outcasted without
Your grace,
Tend to the fervor of those who love You
So much that they feel outcasted without
Your grace, without Your grace.
Coro
Y al claro splendor de luz tan sagrada,
Componga el acento del vuelo las alas.
Chorus
And in the bright splendor of such holy
light
Let ring the flight of Her wings.
44
Crowned today anew with glory.
English transaltion 2011 Allison White.
35
Alto Recitative
O, bella aurora, o deidad, buelve amorosa.
Beulva ya tu piedad, pues oy te elevas
amante,
Dilate la Gloria que feliz fiel te retraza.
Recitative
Oh beautiful sunrise, oh Goddess, love us.
Pity us, since today You rise as a lover,
Tell Glory She's made you happily faithful.
Alto Aria
As divina Diana podrs enriqueser
De luz brillante la noche errante
Que sin luz tu aurora la tierra llora
De no verte amanecer,
De luz brillante la noche errante
Que sin tu aurora la tierra llora
De no verte, de no verte amanecer.
Aria
This is how, divine Diana, You will
Light up the wandering night,
Since without Your sunrise the earth cries
From not seeing You awaken,
Light up the wandering night,
Since without Your sunrise the earth cries
From not seeing You awaken, You
awaken.
Coro
Al empeo bolvamos, si, si, no, no
Del asumpto sagrado y luciente
La vos pues tenemos, luz mas eminente.
Chorus
Let us go back to our task, yes yes, no no,
Of the holy and shining duty:
The voice that we have, the most eminent
light.
Soprano II Recitative
Mas ay que a tantos rayos
Siente el orbe desmayos,
Pues con puros esplendores
El cielo solo goza sus candors
Recitative
With more fainting that the globe can feel
After countless lightning bolts,
Heaven purely takes pleasure in Her candor
With all the bright splendors.
Soprano II Aria
No, no, si, si, si, si, no, no, si, si, si, si
Que all a de habitar
Y aqu a de asistir
Su benign influir
Pues sube a reinar,
Su luz singular
Si alla se condujo
Hara de su Influxo
El don de ilustrar.
Aria
No no, yes yes yes yes, no no, yes yes yes
yes,
There we must live in-And here we must seek out-Her benign influence
As She ascends to reign,
Her singular light,
Which above does shine,
Will make of Her influence
The gift of illumination.
Coro (da capo)

En el da festivo voy dichoso
Que ilustra el afecto la aurora mejor
Con votos la dicha, con trinos, con trinos,
Chorus
Blessed I go on this holy day
As dawn illuminates true love
Its felicity with vows, with singing, with
36
Con luces, la voz.

Y elebando sus inclitas glorias
La vaga region del heroyco,
Brillante misterio, brillante misterio,
Se canten las luces con mucho primor,
Se canten, las luces con mucho, con mucho
primor.
singing,
With lights, the voice.
And praising its highest glories
The uncertain territory of the heroic
Brilliant mystery, brilliant mystery,
Sing of its light with care,
Sing of its light with care, with care
The Nineteenth Century

During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, church music in the Americas benefited from the
churchs financial and political sponsorship: grandiose cathedrals were built, organs were
installed, and well-trained European musicians were sent to train new musicians and to
carry on the European musical traditions. But by the end of the 18th century the privileged
position of the church had become weakened thanks to several factors that begun to
transform the American societies the American and French Revolutions, and the flow
of ideas that resulted from the Enlightenment, both served as inspiration to Latin
Americans who were promoting the ideals of independence.
The School of Chacao

Venezuela had not enjoyed the early flowering of colonial sacred music found in other
Latin American regions that had special attractiveness for peninsular monarchs.45 It did
not have the minerals and wealth of the Peruvian and Mexican viceroyalties, where the
Spanish monarchs had invested in developing music and art to high levels. But in
Caracas, the poor conditions that had prevented musical development during the 16th and
17th centuries started to change when a young priest, Father Pedro Palacios Sojo (173945
Marie Elizabeth Labonville, Juan Bautista Plaza and musical nationalism in Venezuela (Bloomington:
Indiana University, 2007), 4.
37
1799), founded the Congregation of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, modeled after the
Italian order.46 After a trip to Madrid and Rome, Father Sojo brought back musical
instruments and scores of sacred works by famous composers of the time, among which
were probably some by Pergolesi.47 The congregation successfully administered a music
school under the direction of a mulatto musician named Juan Manuel Olivares (17601797).
Father Sojo, who came from a wealthy family, became a patron and supporter of the arts.
He was the owner of a hacienda named La Floresta, where musicians associated with the
Oratorio spent endless hours sharing, performing, and discussing music. Music by
Haydn, Mozart, and Pleyel circulated among those who participated in the veladas
musicales (evening gatherings) at the Floresta. This group of musicians, the first
generation of Venezuelan composers from whom music still exists,48 became better
known as the Escuela de Chacao. Most of the music from this period are sacred works for
choir, soloists, and orchestra.
This cultural growth continued during the early years of the 19th century. A second
generation of composers from the Chacao School was influenced by the music of Gluck,
Haydn, and Mozart.49 Venezuelan musician Juan Bautista Plaza asserts that this second
generation of composers not only assimilated the delicate and simple quality of the
46
Congregation of the Oratorio de San Felipe de Neri is a congregation of secular priests and lay persons
initiated by San Felipe Neri (1515-1595) in Rome.
47
Juan Bautista Plaza and Conchita Rexach, Music in Caracas during the colonial period, The musical
quarterly 29, No. 3 (April 1943): 200.
48
49
Plaza and Rexach, Music in Caracas: 203.
38
masterworks they adopted as models, but, being original, they succeeded in creating a
personal style, so that their music is the expression of the most exquisite nuances of the
Venezuelan colonial soul, or, at least, of its mystical essence.
Cayetano Carreo (1774-1836)

Among this second generation of Chacao School composers was Cayetano Carreo, a
music teacher, organist, and composer who was the most respected musician of his
generation.50 The fact that Carreo had been abandoned at a church at birth may explain
his choice of poignant biblical texts for his compositions. Among his best-known works
are a Requiem Mass and two sacred motets written in 18th century European style: Tristis
est anima mea and In monte Oliveti.
In monte Oliveti is a motet in F minor for four-part choir, tenor, and orchestra: oboe,
clarinet in C, two French horns, and strings. According to Walter Guido, Carreos
orchestration, like that of other colonial composers, is much like the orchestration Haydn
used in many of the symphonies he wrote between 1759 and 1774.51
The text of In monte Oliveti comes from Matthew 26: 39-41. This relatively short piece is
written in the homophonic style characteristic of the Viennese classical period.52 It opens
with a poignant instrumental introduction, followed by the chorus stating in simple
chords, On Mount Olivet, he prayed to his father. A second section, sung by a solo
50
Ibid., 204.
Walter Guido, Jos Angel Lamas y su poca (Caracas: Biblioteca Ayacucho, 1981), 8.
52
Ibid., 8.
51
39
tenor, reproduces the words of Christ in ornate Italianate style, accompanied by the
strings: Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. The spirit indeed is ready but
the flesh is weak. Thy will be done. In a third section the chorus serves as narrator,
singing, And he came to his disciples and found them asleep, and he said to Peter. The
last section starts with another tenor solo, accompanied by the strings, singing the words
of Jesus: Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch and pray, that you do not enter
into temptation. Finally the chorus answers: The spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Thy will be done.
The choral parts are always accompanied by the full orchestra, and they are written in
simple chordal homophony. By contrast, the tenor solos are written in bel canto style,
showing the influence of the Italian opera during this era. In monte Oliveti is a fine
example of Carreos work: simple harmonies, beautiful melodies, and a profound sense
of religiosity.
In monte Oliveti, by Cayetano Carreo

Original text
In monte Oliveti oravit ad Patrem:
On mount Olivet he prayed to his father:
Tenor solo
Pater mi, si posibile est,
Transeat a me calyx iste.
Spiritus quidem promptus est,
Caro autem infirma:
Fiat voluntas tua.
Tenor solo
Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from me.
The spirit indeed is ready,
But the flesh is weak.
Thy will be done.
53
English translation edited by Diana Sez.
40
Chorus
Et venit ad discipulos suos,
Et invenit eos dormientes,
Et dicit Petro:
Chorus
And he came to his disciples,
And found them asleep.
And he said to Peter:
Tenor solo
Sic non potuistis una hora vigilare mecum?
Vigilate, et orate,
ut non intretis in tentationem.
Tenor solo
Could you not watch one hour with me?
Watch and pray,
That you do not enter into temptation.
Chorus
Spiritus quidem promptus est,
Caro autem, infirma.
Fiat voluntas tua,
Chorus
The spirit is indeed is ready,
But the flesh is weak.
Thy will be done.
The performance of this piece would be appropriate for a good high school or college
choir. It would be a good way to introduce young singers to the classical style before
moving on to more challenging works by Haydn or Mozart.
During Carreos 40-year tenure as chapel master at the Caracas cathedral, Venezuela
was struggling for independence. Influenced by this atmosphere, he wrote several
patriotic songsas did other composers from his generationand even offered his
cathedral musicians to play during the proclamation of independence in 1811. 54 Thus his
life marks a time of transition in Latin American musicfrom nearly three centuries of
Spanish-dominated music to the more distinctively American voice that began to evolve
in the late 19th century and continues to grow and develop today.
54
Alberto Calzavara, Historia de la msica en Venezuela (Venezuela: Fundacin Pampero, 1987), 89- 92.
41
CHAPTER II. CHORAL MUSIC AFTER INDEPENDENCE
By 1825 most American colonies had gained their independence from Spain. As the
churchs financial resources dwindled, sacred music gave way to secular music. After
independence, music making was mainly for the new urban bourgeois class, who could
afford the private music lessons for their children that were considered essential in their
social milieu. Affluent families organized tertulias (soires) where intellectuals and
artists gathered not only to talk about the new political trends, but to listen to
performances of vocal and instrumental music. As in many places in Europe, these
middle-class citizens of Latin America were attracted to virtuoso instrumental playing.
They tended to look to France as their new cultural model, although they still shared a
love for Italian opera. Opera and zarzuela55 companies visited from Europe, and
philharmonic societies and opera companies were founded in various cities of Latin
America.
Attracted to cosmopolitan cities like Buenos Aires and Mexico City, professional and
amateur musicians from all over Europe started migrating to the Americas. These
musicians played an important role in the development of music during the later part of
the 19th century. Both immigrants and native musicians established schools to teach vocal
and instrumental music, and the foundation of the philharmonic societies opened the
doors for the establishment of music conservatories to prepare and promote native talent.
55
Zarzuela is the national music theather of Spain.
42
After centuries of Spanish political and cultural domination, the newly formed state
governments passed legislation to provide some support for music and art. National
conservatories, national orchestras, and national choruses were founded with support
from the state56 to prepare a musically educated citizenry. Unfortunately, even with the
new policies to support the arts, in most countries the large economic disparities between
rich and poor made uniformity and equality in education extremely difficult.57 In
addition, the wide gap between the rural and urban populations further restricted access to
a good musical education. Nevertheless, 20th century Latin America saw the creation of
some of the most beautiful choral works in the history of the continent.
Nationalism vs. Neoclassicism

By the end of the 19th century, a definable national musical style appeared in Latin
American countries,58 as it had appeared not long before in countries like Russia, Finland,
Czechoslovakia, and Spain as a reaction against the musical supremacy of European
countries like Germany and Italy. Throughout Latin America musicians went in search of
their roots, seeking inspiration in the folklore of their countriesin their rich traditions of
folk melodies and dance rhythms. In Mexico, for example, many musicians and
intellectuals belonged of the Indianist movement, which synthesized elements from
native music with the basic principles of Western music (similar to the movement in the
United States between the 1880s and the 1920s) to forge a national cultural identity.59 In
56
Suzanne Spicer Tiemstra, The Choral Music of Latin America: A guide to compositions and research
(New York: Greenwood Press, 1992), 17.
57
Ibid.
58
Gerard Bhague, Music in Latin America: An introduction (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1979), 96.
59
Gerard Behague, Music, c. 1920-c. 1980, in A general history of Latin America: Literature, Music and
43
Argentina a number of composers continued the nationalist trend initiated by Alberto

Williams (1862-1952) at the end of the 19th century. Latin American musicians were
finally ready to create, promote, and gain ownership of their art.
Although musical nationalism dominated the Latin American scene during the first half
of the 20th century, other trends started to develop around the same time. Several
composers, concerned that the nationalist musical movement was resorting to a facile
exotic regionalism,60 adhered to other compositional styles and techniques, such as neoClassicism.61 Even composers who had started writing in the nationalist style turned to
neoclassicism later in their career. In Chile, for example, Indianism and nationalism had
few adherents,62 and the music in that country kept a link to the European forms from
the post-Romantic, Impressionist, Expressionist, and neo-Classical styles; and in
Venezuela and Puerto Rico some early 20th century musicians composed contrapuntal
madrigals and motets reviving the idioms of the 16th century. This section of the
anthology refers only to choral compositions written in the nationalist or neoclassical
styles.
the Visual Arts in the 19th and 20th centuries, ed. Leslie Bethhell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998): 311.
60
Ibid., 224.
61
Neo-classicism a movement of the 20th century music that is characterized by the inclusion of features
derived from music of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries into contemporary styles.
62
Ibid., 319.
44
Mexico
Blas Galindo (1920-1993)
Blas Galindo started his music education at the relatively late age of 19.63 A full-blooded
Huichol, in 1930 he left the small town of San Gabriel in the state of Jalisco to move to
Mexico City. With a strong commitment to social justice, he planned to become a
lawyer; but after hearing a concert conducted by the renowned Mexican composer and
conductor Silvestre Revueltas, he had a change of heart and decided to become a
musician. Helped by a good sense of self-discipline he started his musical studies from
the basics. While at the conservatory he studied under the direction of Carlos Chvez
(1899-1978), one of the first exponents of Mexican nationalism. Thanks to the
mentorship and support of Chvez, he spent two summers at the Berkshire Festival,
where he studied with Aaron Copland. After 12 years of study he graduated in 1944 with
a degree of maestro de composicin. In 1947 he was appointed director of the Mexico
City Conservatory, a position he held until 1961.
With three other former students of Chvez, Galindo formed Grupo de los Cuatro, after
the French Les Six and the Russian Five, to bring attention to Mexican nationalistic
music. His most famous orchestral composition was Sones de Mariachi, a piece based on
several popular songs from the Mexican tradition that has become a staple of the modern
Mexican symphonic repertoire.
63
Robert Stevenson, Music in Mexico: A historical survey (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company,
1952), 255.
45
Blas Galindos catalog of works includes many solo and choral vocal works. He once
noted that no one was interested in playing his brass quartet or quintet compositions, but
if I write a song, theres immediately someone interested in singing it.64 Not
everything Galindo wrote was in the nationalist style. His 1948 choral piece Me gustas
cuando callas belongs to the neo-Classical style he used during the 1940s and 50s. For
this short a cappella piece, Galindo chose several verses from Poem #15 of Pablo
Nerudas collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. (Neruda [1904-1973], a
Chilean Nobel Laureate who wrote these poems when he was only 19, has inspired many
Latin America and U.S. composers.) Me gustas cuando callas shows some of Blas
Galindos most famous compositional traits, such as the use of pandiatonic65 scale and
the frequent use of parallel fourths and fifths, especially between tenors and basses.66
Me gustas cuando callas, by Blas Galindo

Original text
Me gustas cuando callas porque ests como It pleases me when you grow silent, as
ausente,
though you were absent,
Y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te
toca.
and you hear me from afar, and my voice

does not touch you.
Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado
It seems that your eyes have flown from

you
64
Roberto Garca Bonilla, Visiones Sonoras: Entrevistas con compositores, solistas y directores (Mexico
DF: Siglo XXI editores, 2001), 45.
65
Pandiatonic refers to the technique of using the diatonic scale instead of the chromatic scale without the
limitation of functional harmony. Pandiatonic music typically uses the notes of the diatonic scale freely in
dissonant combinations without conventional resolutions and/or without standard chord progressions,
sometimes to the extent that no single pitch is felt as a tonic.
66
67
English translation 2011 Coral Cantigas, edited by Diana Sez.
46
y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca.
Como todas las cosas estn llenas de mi

alma
emerges de las cosas, llena del alma ma.
Mariposa de sueo, te pareces a mi alma,
y te pareces a la palabra melancola;
Me gustas cuando callas y ests como
distante.
and it seems that a kiss has closed your

mouth.
As everything is filled with my soul,

you emerge from everything, filled with
that soul.
Dream butterfly, you resemble my soul
and you resemble the word melancholy.
It pleases me when you grow silent and are
as if far away.
Rodolfo Halffter (1900-1987)

Rodolfo Halffter was born in Madrid to a Catalonian mother and a German father. A selftaught composer, in Spain Halffter took part in the intellectual atmosphere that permeated
Madrid during the 1920s as part of the composers society Grupo de los Ocho. In
contrast to Blas Galindos Mexican Grupo de los Cuatro, which wanted to create a
Mexican classical idiom, the Spanish Ocho composers sought to promote and explore
the new music by composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Schnberg, and Bartok.
Unfortunately, after the Spanish civil war of 1936-1939, Halffter was forced to go into
exile in Mexico because of his views against the dictator Francisco Franco.
In Mexico Halffter became a friend of Carlos Chvez and Blas Galindo and taught
musical analysis at the National Conservatory. For many years he was the editor of the
Mexican publishing company Ediciones Mexicanas, which published the music of
Mexican composers, including Galindo. Among the many honors that Rodolfo Halffter
47
received was a life membership in the Mexican Academy of Fine Arts, conferred in 1969,
and the Encomienda con Placa de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio, presented by the
Spanish Government in 1973.
Most of Halffters music belongs to the neo-classical style of the early 20th century, but
by 1953 he started using 12-note serialism. He has been credited with introducing the
serial composition technique to Mexico.
Tres epitafios are three pieces for a cappella chorus, composed between 1947 and 1953 in
a reserved neo-Classical style.68 For this work Halffter used three epitaphs dedicated to
Don Quijote, Dulcinea, and Sancho Panza from the classic Don Quijote de la Mancha by
Miguel de Cervantes. Tres epitafios combines both modal and tonal harmonies. The use
of modality and frequent moves from duple to triple meters produces a medieval sound in
certain sections. In the piece dedicated to Dulcinea, Hallfter adds elements from Spanish
folkloric music, such as ornamental triplets and Phrygian cadences in the sopranos.
Tres Epitafios, by Rodolfo Hallfter

Original text
(para don Quixote)
Yace aqu el Hidalgo fuerte
que a tanto extremo lleg
de valiente, que se advierte
que la muerte no triunf
de su vida con su muerte.
(for Don Quixote)
A doughty gentleman lies here;
A stranger all his life to fear;
Nor in his death could Death prevail,
In that last hour, to make him quail.
68

English translation from http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/cervantes/don-quixote/54/. Internet
accessed on 4/11/2011.
69
48
Tuvo a todo el mundo en poco;

fue el espantajo y el coco
del mundo, en tal coyuntura,
que acredit su ventura morir cuerdo y
vivir loco.
He for the world but little cared;

And at his feats the world was scared;
A crazy man his life he passed,
But in his senses died at last.
(para Dulcinea)
Reposa aqu Dulcinea;
y, aunque de carnes rolliza,
la volvi en polvo y ceniza
la muerte espantable y fea.
Fue de castiza ralea,
y tuvo asomos de dama;
del gran Quijote fue llama,
y fue gloria de su aldea.
(for Dulcinea)
Here Dulcinea lies.
Plump was she and robust:
Now she is ashes and dust:
The end of all flesh that dies.
A lady of high degree,
With the port of a lofty dame,
And the great Don Quixote's flame,
And the pride of her village was she.
(para Sancho Panza)

Sancho Panza es aqueste, en cuerpo chico,
pero grande en valor, milagro extrao!
Escudero el ms simple y sin engao
que tuvo el mundo, os juro y certifico.
De ser conde, no estuvo en un tantico,
si no se conjuraran en su dao
insolencias y agravios del tacao
siglo, que aun no perdonan a un borrico.
Sobre l anduvo (con perdn se miente)
este manso escudero, tras el manso
caballo Rocinante y tras su dueo.
Oh vanas esperanzas de la gente!
Cmo pasis con prometer descanso
y al fin paris en sombra, en humo, en
sueo!
(for Sancho Panza)

The worthy Sancho Panza here you see;
A great soul once was in that body small,
Nor was there squire upon this earthly ball
So plain and simple, or of guile so free.
Within an ace of being Count was he,
And would have been but for the spite and
gall
Of this vile age, mean and illiberal,
That cannot even let a donkey be.
For mounted on an ass (excuse the word),
By Rocinante's side this gentle squire
Was wont his wandering master to attend.
Delusive hopes that lure the common herd
With promises of ease, the heart's desire,
In shadows, dreams, and smoke ye always
end.
Argentina
Compongo msica porque lo amo, amo meloda, amo cantar. Y he averiguado
con placer que hay un pblico fuera all muy interesado en mi msica siempre
que la publique. Eso es fantstico! Me niego a solo componer msica pensada
49
para ser descubierta y entendida por generaciones futuras.

Carlos Guastavino
Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)
When we think of Argentinas 20th century music, the composer Alberto Ginastera is the
first that comes to mind. However, among Latin American choral musicians, Carlos
Guastavinos name is most recognized. And even though both composers are strongly
associated with musical nationalism in Argentina, they represent two different musical
styles and philosophies.
Carlos Guastavino never felt comfortable with the new 20th century compositional trends.
He publicly expressed disdain for dodecaphony and atonal music in general, seeing
tonality as the only legitimate basis for writing music.70 Guastavino was often
criticized by his contemporaries and the press for being traditional and conservative in his
writing. In contrast to other Latin American composers of the time, he did not attempt to
compose in the neoclassical style of Stravinsky and Bartok. His music was always within
the limits of tonality; but in the words of Jonathan Kulp, who has studied Guastavinos
music, He was capable of far greater harmonic sophistication than that for which he is
generally credited.71
Carlos Guastavino was born in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. In 1938 he moved to
70
Jonathan Kulp, Carlos Guastavino: A Re-evaluation of his harmonic language, Latin American Music
Review 27, No. 2 (Autumn/Winter, 2006) 198.
71
Ibid.
50
Buenos Aires, where he studied composition and piano privately. Guastavino was a
prolific composer, writing for piano, guitar, choir, chamber ensemble, and solo voice. He
originally composed Se equivoc la paloma in 1941 as an art song. It might be his most
well-known melody, and it was probably the most reworked piece in all of Guastavinos
output72: there are arrangements for womens a cappella choir, for womens choir and
orchestra, for soprano and orchestra, and even for two pianos. In 1952 Guastavino made
an arrangement for a cappella mixed choir, which has become a staple among Latin
American choirs.
The poem, originally named La Paloma, was written by Spanish poet Rafael Alberti
(1902-1999) in France in 1939 as he fled Spain as a consequence of the Spanish Civil
War. This beautiful poem reflects Albertis feeling of loss and of nostalgia for Spain. It is
part of his collection of poems Entre el clavel y la espada (Between the carnation and the
sword), written during his first two years in exile, a period when he expressed his
political views through his poems. Once Alberti arrived in Argentina, he became a friend
of Carlos Guastavino, who set several of his poems to music.
The setting of this composition is syllabic. The phrase se equivocaba (she was wrong)
becomes both a melodic and a textual motive that repeats throughout the piece, stressing
the feeling of uncertainty. Even though Carlos Guastavino is considered a romanticnationalist composer, Se equivoc la paloma does not show clear nationalistic musical
characteristics. Its melody and harmony are distinctively romantic and expressive.
72
Francisco Javier Calvo, Argentine Nationalism in the Choral Arrangements of Selected Art Songs of
Carlos Guastavino (MA diss., California State University, 2007), 49.
51
Se equivoc la paloma, by Carlos Guastavino

Original text
Se equivoc la paloma.
Se equivocaba.
The dove was wrong

She was wrong.
Por ir al Norte, fue al Sur.

Crey que el trigo era agua.
Se equivocaba.
Instead of North, she went to the South.

She thought that the wheat was water.
She was wrong.
Crey que el mar era el cielo;

que la noche la maana.
Se equivocaba.
She thought the sea was the sky;

that the night was the day.
She was wrong.
Que las estrellas, roco;

que la calor, la nevada.
Se equivocaba.
That the stars were the dew;

That the heat was the snow.
She was wrong.
Que tu falda era tu blusa;

que tu corazn su casa.
Se equivocaba.
That your skirt was your blouse,

that your heart was her house.
She was wrong.
(Ella se durmi en la orilla.

T, en la cumbre de una rama.)
(She, asleep on the shore,

And you, in the top of a branch.)
Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)

Alberto Ginastera is recognized as a leading Latin American composer. His name has
been mostly associated with the nationalist movement that permeated Argentina during
the 1930s and 40s. However, Ginasteras most recognized a cappella choral piece does
not belong to the nationalist period that he is mostly known for, nor to any of his other
compositional periods. Lamentaciones de Jeremias Profeta (Lamentations of the Prophet
Jeremiah), three motets for mixed choir, were written in 1946, when he was only 30 years
73
Translation 1999 Neil A. Kjos Music Company, Edited by Diana V. Sez.
52
old, during a stay in the United States. Ginasteras Lamentations is already a canonic
work within the choral repertoire, therefore a deeper analysis of the piece would be
redundant in this context.
Chile
In Chile Indianism and nationalism in general had few adherents; the cultivated tradition
in Chilean music was strongly Europeanized.74 This statement by Bhague illustrates
the attitude of most Chilean musicians toward the nationalist movement that permeated
the rest of Latin America. Music in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century was
oriented toward the European styles that were closely related to the classical and
romantic tradition, like post-Romanticism, Impressionism, and neo-Classicism.
During the early decades of the 20th century, Chilean musicians promoted and
encouraged the performance of music by European composers from the Renaissance
period, the Baroque period (especially the music of Bach), the Romantic period, and the
French Impressionist period from the beginning of the century. In 1936 a law was passed
to found a National Symphony Orchestra and to stimulate the creation of music by
Chilean composers. Among those composers was Alfonso Letelier, who was classified
as formalist because of [his] adherence to the stylistic aims of neo-classicism. 75
Alfonso Letelier (1912-1994)

Alfonso Letelier was born in Santiago, Chile. While in high school he took private music
74
75
Behague, Music, c. 1920-c. 1980, in A general history of Latin America, ed. Leslie Bethhell, 323.
Ibid., 334.
53
lessons and became an accomplished pianist. After graduation Letelier entered the
National Conservatory of Music, where he studied harmony, counterpoint, and
composition under the direction of Pedro Humberto Allende (1885-1959), the first
Chilean composer to cultivate a national style in a context of French Impressionist
techniques.76 At the same time as he received his degree in music, he also received a
degree in agricultural engineering from the Catholic University of Santiago.
Alfonso Letelier played an important role in the development of the musical culture in
Chile. He was instrumental in the founding of the National Association of Composers,
which he served as president between 1950 and 1956, promoting the music of Chilean
composers in Chile and abroad. In 1957 he became director of the Revista Musical
Chilena, the only musicological journal in Latin America that has been published with no
interruptions since its founding in 1945. Besides his career as composer, he taught
harmony, counterpoint, and analysis at the University of Chile and was Dean of the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1952 to 1962.
Letelier directed the Letelier-Valds quartet, a vocal ensemble of his own relatives who
enjoyed performing Renaissance and contemporary a cappella music. He also founded
and conducted the chorus from the Escuela de Msica Moderna in Santiago with the
purpose of familiarizing the general public with the choral music of all periods.77 These
experiences certainly explain why Alfonso Letelier felt so at ease writing for chorus.
76
Ibid., 323.
Composers of the Americas: biographical data and catalogs of their works, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.:
Organization of American States, 1979): 102.
77
54
Chilean composers, like their counterparts in other countries of Latin America during the
same period, established a close relationship between music and literature. Composers set
to music not only the poetry of their national poets, but also that of Spanish poets, other
Latin American poets, and even folk poetry. Letelier was no exception: many of his
compositions were inspired by the poetry of some of the best Chilean poets, including
Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral. However, he chose anonymous Spanish texts for the
three Christmas villancicos included in this anthology.
The first villancico is a beautiful Christmas lullaby with a simple traditional

harmonization; its only contemporary element is the final F Major chord with an added
seventh. En los brazos de la luna has become so popular in Chile that it is often thought
to be part of Chilean folklore. The second villancico is extremely chromatic, moving
from chord to chord on almost every syllable; taking us on an interesting harmonic spree
from E Major to A flat Major and several neighboring tones in between. In the third
villancico the sopranos sing a pastoral melody against the chromatic harmonies that are
sung by the rest of the choir. These poems were set syllabically. Even though the songs
belong to Leteliers earlier period, the use of polytonality and chromaticism in the second
and third villancicos illustrate his distinctive harmonic idiom.
55
Villancicos, by Alfonso Letelier

Carol I78
Villancico I
En los brazos de la luna
Est metidito el sol
Que dichosa es la Virgen
Que as tiene al nio Dios.
In the moons arms.

The moon is sleeping
Blessed be Mary,
Likewise cradling the Son of God.
Esta noche es Noche Buena,

Esta noche no se duerme.
Acaso duermen las aves
Cuando el sol sus rayos vierte?
Villancico II
Tonight is Christmas Eve,

Tonight no one sleeps.
Do birds sleep
While the sunbeams shine?
Carol II
Qu noche tan clara,

Que clara que est
Un sol de los cielos
Brilla en un portal.
Such a clear night,

It is so clear
A sky-born sun
Shines in a barn.
Sonre, sonre
Benigno Jess
Mirad esos ojos
Que son nuestra luz.
Smile, smile
Kind Jesus.
Look into those eyes,
Our guiding light.
Se duerme, se duerme
Y empieza a soar
Suea que nos ama
Y nos va a salvar.
Villancico III
He sleeps, He sleeps
And dreams
He dreams that He loves us,
That He will save us.
Carol III
Llegaos pastorcitos
Llegaos hasta el portal
Sobre unas pajuelas
Al nio vas a encontrar.
Cantando van los pastores
De sus rabeles al son
Saltando de alegra
Que van a ver a su Dios.
Shepherds come
Come to the barn
Lying on poor straw
You will find Him.
Shepherds are singing,
To their music
Jumping with joy
To see their God.
78
English translation 1999 Coral Cantigas, edited by Diana Sez.
56
Puerto Rico
Hector Campos Parsi (1922-1998)
Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Hector Campos Parsi showed musical aptitude at an early
age, but his family did not consider music to be an acceptable career for such a bright and
talented young man. During a short visit in Mexico City, where he went to study
medicine, he was exposed to the music of Carlos Chvez. The experience made a
profound impression on the young student and persuaded him to pursue his musical path.
In 1947 he moved to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory. He met Aaron
Copland, who encouraged him to study with Nadia Boulanger in France. While in France
he met Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc, and the Scottish composer Thea Musgrave,
among others.79
Once Campos Parsi moved back to Puerto Rico, he played an important role in the
islands musical life: he developed and supervised the implementation of a music
curriculum for the Escuelas Libre de Msica,80 taught music at both the Conservatory of
Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto Rico, contributed to research on the music of
Puerto Rico, served for many years as director of music for the Puerto Rican Institute of
Culture. As a composer, he began as a nationalist but turned to neo-Classicism in the
1950s and to atonality and serialism in the 1960s. Ave Maria, which he composed in
1949 while studying composition in Boston, was clearly written in the neoclassic style.
79
Hector Campos Parsi, Puerto Rican Music in the XX century http://www.josemontalvo.net/diss/cp.html

Internet, accessed on 4/13/2011.
80
The Escuelas Libres de Msica are part of Puerto Ricos public school system; they offer a full academic
and musical curriculum for grades 7-12.
57
Ave Maria, by Hector Campos Parsi

Original text
Ave Maria, gratia plena:
Dominus tecum,
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Hail Mary, full of grace:

The Lord is with thee,
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Venezuela: A Choral Country

The beginning of the 20th century was not an easy period for artists, intellectuals, and
musicians in Venezuela, which for 27 long years was under the leadership of the ruthless
dictator Juan Vicente Gomez. But even though the country lacked the conditions for the
development of culture and the arts, an interesting phenomenon took place in Caracas
that influenced the countrys musical development for several decades.
In 1928 a male singing group from Ukraine performed in Caracas while touring Latin
America. The performance made a big impression on a group of young Venezuelan
musicians, who decided to form an ensemble modeled after the Ukrainian choir. Dressed
up as Russians, wearing fake beards and fancy costumes, these Venezuelan musicians
debuted during carnival season performing their own original compositions. By 1930 the
informal group of singers became a formal choral group named Orfen82 Lamas, after the
renowned Venezuelan colonial composer Jos Angel Lamas. At first all the compositions
were written for male chorus, until women were invited to join (three months after the
group was founded). Under the leadership of composer, musicologist, and educator
81
82
Ron Jeffers, Translations and Annotations, 99.

Orfen singing group.
58
Vicente Emilio Sojo (1887-1974), composer Juan Bautista Plaza (1898-1965), and
musicologist and composer Jos Antonio Calcao (1900-1980), the first choral group of
Caracas had been formed, and a choral movement had been born.
More than a choir, the Orfen was a choral association whose mission was to encourage
the composition of new works by contemporary Venezuelan composers; to collect,
promote, and arrange Venezuelas folkloric music (especially the rich and diverse
repertoire from the Christmas tradition); and to study and transcribe music from the
colonial period. The Orfen musicians took upon themselves the task of educating the
public about the aesthetics of European classical music.
Sojo became a mentor and teacher to a new generation of composers: Antonio Lauro
(1917-1986), Inocente Carreo (1919-), Antonio Estvez (1916-1988), and Modesta Bor
(1926-1998), among them. Sojos concept of music composition was very strict and
demanding, requiring his students to follow his procedures. For example, he emphasized
the strict use of polyphony with the application of techniques such as point of imitation,
canon, fugues, inventions or stretti Sojo preached that the rhythm of music should be
faithfully adapted to the rhythm of the words. In addition, Sojo looked for equilibrium
and proportion of the structures and clear harmonies. The preferred structures were the
bipartite AB form (with repetitions of both or one of the sections) and the ABA form for
choral works.83 Lauro, Carreo, and Estvez are considered nationalists since many of
their compositions took, and then transformed and developed the rhythmic, melodic, and
83
Cira Guadalupe Parra, A conductors guide to selected choral Works of Modesta Bor (DMA diss.,
University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, 2006), 24-25.
59
harmonic elements of Venezuelan folklore. These composers also set poetry by

Venezuelan poets that alluded to their many rich traditions, especially those from the
Venezuelan llanos (plains).
Antonio Lauro (1917-1986)

Antonio Lauro began his musical studies with piano and composition at the Caracas
Academia de Msica y Declamacin (later renamed Escuela Jos Angel Lamas). After
attending a concert performed by Paraguays guitar virtuoso Agustn Barrios, Lauro
abandoned the violin and piano for the guitar. In addition to his guitar compositions,
which are considered standards of the repertoire, Lauro also composed works for
orchestra, piano, voice, and choir; his choral pieces have become classics among Latin
American choruses. Lauro sang in several ensembles (he sang bass in Orfen Lamas
while at school), taught guitar, and founded and directed choirs at several leading schools
in Caracas. He also served as president of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra.
Like many other composers of his generation, Lauro was considered a nationalist. All va
un encobijado uses words by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba (1905-1971), a Venezuelan poet
who drew elements from the popular coplas and dcimas,84 with themes related to the
traditions and legends of the Venezuelan plains. Lauro gives it a polyphonic treatment,
like a Renaissance madrigal, combining harmonic blocks with imitative counterpoint.
84
Coplas- a poetic form of four verses found in many Spanish popular songs as well as in Spanish language
literature; dcimas- a 10-line stanza of poetry in Spanish literature.
60
All va un encobijado, by Antonio Lauro

Original text
All va un encobijado
por el peladal pampero,
As se va mi esperanza
sin t, por el alma adentro.
There goes an encobijado86

Through the extensive treeless plains,
the same way my hope vanishes
without you within my soul
Llanos y llanos cruc

por ir a tu olvido,
Y tras tanto caminar
llegu a te quiero lo mismo.
Plains and plains I crossed

to forget you,
and in the end it all came back
that I love you just the same.
Sin t por el alma adentro,

me acord de cuando iba
por los caminos lloviendo.
Without you within my soul,

Remembering when I left
Through rainy paths.
Although All va un encobijado is one of the most performed choral works in Latin
America, it has not been published. Lauros family sold the rights to his music to a
British person, and no information about it could be found. Still, this should not be an
obstacle to learning about and appreciating Lauros beautiful music. Fortunately some of
his choral compositions can be accessed via the internet and Venezuelan choruses are
always happy to share their scores.
Inocente Carreo (b. 1919)

Inocente Carreo was also one of the nationalist composers who studied under the
guidance of Vicente Emilio Sojo at the Academia de Msica y Declamacin, graduating
in 1946 with the title of Maestro de Composicin. In addition to composing, Carreo
taught music theory at the former Academia de Msica, now known as Escuela Jos
85
86
English translation 1999 Coral Cantigas.

encobijado - person covered with a blanket as shelter
61
Angel Lamas, and for many years played the French horn in the Venezuelan Symphony
Orchestra.
Pregntale a ese mar, set to a poem by Juan Beroes (1914-1975), is an example of the
20th century Venezuelan madrigals composed by members of the Orfen Lamas to be
performed by the ensemble. These works were called madrigals for their use of poetic
texts, mostly by Venezuelan poets, and for the use of imitative counterpoint as a
compositional practice.87 This musical movement, inspired by another literary movement
known as costumbrismo,88 was created in the context of the nationalist movement in
Latin America.
Pregntale a ese mar, by Inocente Carreo

Original text
Pregntale a ese mar donde sola
llorar mi corazn, si por su arena,
con dulce silbo de veloz sirena,
cruz la virgen que me viera un da
contar los granos de la arena ma.
Y a esa virgen nocturna de serena
vestidura lunar, trgida y llena,
pregntale si el mar que la vea
despedirse llorando en mi memoria,
escribi por la arena aquella historia
con su pulso de espuma, triste y suave
Ask the sea where
my heart cried, if on its sand,
with the sweet whistle of the quick
mermaid,
the virgin crossed who saw me one day
counting the grains of my sand.
And to the nocturnal virgin dressed
In serene full moon clothing,
Ask her if the sea who saw her
Leave crying in my memory,
Wrote that story on the sand
With its pulse and sad soft foam
87
Rafael Salazar, Memorial del canto (Caracas: Banco Industrial de Venezuela, 1994), 109.
Costumbrismo refers to a trend in Spanish literature that stressed detailed descriptions of typical regional
characters and social conduct, often with a satirical or philosophical intent.
89
Translation Luis Cortes Santa Barbara Music Publishing, 1999.
88
62
T tambin, corazn, ve a la ribera,

y con voz de esa brisa que te oyera,
pregntaselo al mar, que el mar lo sabe!
And you too, go to the shore,

And with the voice of that breeze that
would hear,
Ask the sea, because the sea knows!
Antonio Estvez (1916-1988)

Antonio Estvez, born in the city of Calabozo in the heart of the Venezuelan high plains,
was very much influenced by the landscapes of his childhood. In 1931 he entered the Jos
Angel Lamas School in Caracas, where he studied oboe and composition with Vicente
Emilio Sojo. In 1937 he became part of the Orfen directed by Sojo, which led him to
compose for the choral medium. In addition to composing, he played oboe for the
Venezuelan National Symphony and founded and directed several choirs, including the
Orfen de la Universidad Central de Venezuela.
In 1945 he was awarded a scholarship to study composition in the United States. At the
Tanglewood Festival he studied orchestration with Koussevitzky and Bernstein, and
composition with Aaron Copland. On July 25, 1954, Estvez conducted the premiere of
his Cantata Criolla: Florentino, el que canto con el Diablo (The one who sang with the
Devil) for tenor, baritone, choir, and orchestra. The cantata, which was inspired by a
poem of Alberto Arvelo Torrealba, draws on a legend from the Venezuelan plains about a
singing contest between Florentino, the llanero, or man of the plains, and the Devil. In
this work, Estvez combines elements from modern compositional techniques, two
different Gregorian chants to represent Florentino and the Devil, and folkloric music
traditions. With this cantata, Antonio Estvez took elements from the Venezuelan
folklore and transformed them into one of Latin Americas most important choral63
symphonic works.
Mata del nima sola (Tree of the lonely soul), also inspired by a poem of Alberto Arvelo
Torrealba, is a beautiful illustration of a nationalistic composition for a cappella choir.
The piece has two distinctive sections, one fast and one slow. After a short improvisatory
introduction by the tenor, the chorus joins in providing an instrumental accompaniment
in the rhythm of a joropoa typical dance from the llanos of Venezuela and Colombia
performed in a fast 3/4 meter. Using onomatopoeic effects to imitate the sound of musical
instruments, the chorus accompanies the tenor, who represents the voice of the llanero.
The sopranos imitate the plucking of the harps; the altos and tenors imitate the rhythm of
the cuatro, a four-string guitar from the region; and the basses imitate the deeper sound of
the bandolas, a pear-shaped guitar from the plains. The joropo is followed by a slow
section that depicts the loneliness felt by the llanero;90 and finally the first section is
repeated to end the song.
Thanks to the new collection of choral pieces from Latin America edited by the renowned
Venezuelan conductor Maria Guinand and published by the American publishing
company earthsongs, Mata del nima sola has become a standard among choirs in the
United States. It is to be hoped that more publications of Estvezs music will allow us to
learn and appreciate his full opus.
90
Antonio Estvez, Mata del nima sola, ed. Mara Guinand (Corvallis: earthsongs, 1993).
64
Mata del nima sola, by Antonio Estvez

Original text
Mata del nima sola,

boquern de banco largo
ya podrs decir ahora:
Aqu durmi Cantaclaro.
Tree of the lonely soul

Wide opening of the riverside
Now you will be able to say:
Here slept Cantaclaro.
Con el silbo y la picada

de la brisa coleadora
la tarde catira y mora
entr al corazn callada.
With the whistle and the sting

Of the twisting wind,
The dappled and violet dusk
Quietly entered the corral.
La noche, yegua cansada,

sobre los bancos tremola
La crin y la negra cola
Y en su silencio se pasma
Tu corazn de fantasma.
The night, tired mare,

Shakes her mane and black tail
Above the riverside;
And in its silence,
Your ghostly heart is filled with awe.
Modesta Bor (1926-1998)

Modesta Bor, a prolific composer, conductor, music educator, and musicologist,
belonged to the second generation of composers from the Jos Angel Lamas Music
School. She studied composition with Vicente Emilio Sojo as well as harmony and
orchestration with Antonio Estvez.
From 1960 to 1962 Bor was in Moscow, pursuing her studies in composition at the
Tchaikovsky Conservatory. After moving back to Caracas, she was blacklisted by the
government for being a communist. With the help of her former teacher Sojo, who was a
senator at the time, Modesta was able to secure a job as choral teacher in 1965.
Gradually, with the support of her colleagues and her formidable talents, Modesta Bor
91
English translation earthsongs, 1993.
65
got the recognition she deserved.
Bor wrote for orchestra, chamber music, solo piano, and voice. She is well known in
Latin America, not only as a composer of choral music, but also as a prolific arranger of
Venezuelan traditional music for choirs. She mentored many aspiring composers and, as
music educator, showed a special interest in the music education of children. She directed
several childrens choirs and also produced an enormous amount of original music and
choral arrangements for equal voices. Through her performances and arrangements she
popularized many traditional Venezuelan childrens songs. She took a practical approach
to composing, taking into account the quality of the musicians, singers, orchestras or
choirs available to her at the moment.92 As musicologist, Modesta Bor worked for the
National Service for Folklore Research in Venezuela, collecting and researching
Venezuelan folk music. During her lifetime she received many honors and awards.
Pescador de anclas (Fisherman of anchors) is a Venezuelan madrigal, inspired by a poem

by Venezuelan poet Andrs Eloy Blanco (1897-1955). Composed during 1962, it is one
of Bors first choral pieces to show the influence of Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978),
who had been Bors composition teacher in Moscow and who favored the use of
extended triadic harmonies with added 6ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths. The piece also shows
the strong influence of her previous teacher Vicente Emilio Sojo in Bors choice of
polyphonic writing with frequent points of imitation and the formal ABA structure of the
piece. Also from Sojo, Bor inherited a sense of faithfulness to the text by adapting the
92
Guadalupe Parra, A conductors guide to selected Works, 24-25.
66
music to the rhythm of the words.93 She alternates a rhythmic ostinato accompaniment
between the altos and tenors in the middle section to create the illusion of the fishermans
boat rocking in the waves.
Even though Modesta Bors music is highly esteemed in her country, it is not performed
as often by choirs outside Venezuela. Her music is copyrighted and registered with
SACVEN (Society of Authors and Composers of Venezuela); therefore, with a little
interest by North American choirs it could be brought to and published in the United
States for the benefit of all.
Pescador de anclas, by Modesta Bor

Original text
Yo te quiero desde un da
en que v junto a la playa
un barco de un pescador
que andaba pescando anclas.
I have loved you since the day

I saw by the sea
A boat of a fisherman
who was fishing anchors.
Era un pescador que haba

navegado tantos mares,
que tena ya redonda
el alma de tantos viajes.
He was a fisherman who had

Sailed through so many seas
That his soul had become round
From so many voyages.
All the Venezuelan madrigals in this section are appropriate for good high school and
college-level choirs. They dont necessarily need to be paired with other music from the
Americas; they belong in any program among other secular a cappella works, such as the
secular choral songs of Samuel Barber or Edward Elgar.
93
94
Ibid., 24.
English translation by Diana Sez.
67
CHAPTER III. HISTORY GOES ON: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS
Latin American choral composers have not yet written their final chapter. Since
Hernando Francos first chanzoneta, written in Nahuatl in 1599, choral musicians have
been building the foundation for those who came after them through the centuries. Today
newly formed choral ensembles all over Latin America are demanding new repertoire
and a new generation of composers is responding. Improved communications and access
to the Internet facilitates the exchange between composers and choral groups. The
composers profiled in this section are some of those whose works are now being
performed by choirs all over Latin America and the United States.
Federico Ibarra Groth (b. 1946)

Federico Ibarra, a renowned Mexican composer and teacher, belongs to a generation of
composers that rejected the musical nationalist movement of composers like Revueltas,
Chavez, and Blas Galindo, from the early 20th century.95 Ibarra studied composition at
the Escuela Nacional de Msica de la UNAM in Mexico and was awarded a scholarship
to continue his studies in Paris and Spain. As a piano performer, he is responsible for
premiering in Mexico important contemporary works written for that instrument,
including works by American composers Cowell, Cage, and Crumb. Ibarras catalogue
of compositions includes works for choir, chamber ensemble, and full orchestra, several
ballets, five piano sonatas, three symphonies, and six operas. His opera Alicia was
awarded Spains Premio Accesit Jacinto e Inocencia Guerrero for best lyrical
95
Roberto Garca Bonilla, Visiones Sonoras (Mexico DF: Siglo XX editores, 2001) 112.
68
composition.
Ibarra has expressed a special affinity for the visual arts and literature, and he has often
used these art forms as a source of inspiration for his work. A una dama que iba cubierta
pays homage to the poetry of Gomez Manrique, a 15th century Spanish poet. This short
piece has the light character of a Renaissance madrigal: the la-la-la-la section reminds us
of the nonsense syllables fa la la la used in the English madrigals. A una dama que iba
cubierta is very popular among Mexican choirs.
A una dama que iba cubierta, by Federico Ibarra Groth

Original text
El corazn se me fue
donde vuestro vulto v
e luego vos conoc
al punto que vos mire.
My heart left me, in the place

Where I first saw your hidden form,
And later I knew you,
The moment I gazed upon you.
Que no pudo fazer tanto

por mucho que vos cubriese
aquel vuestro negro manto
que vos no reconociese.
Nothing could be done,

Although you tried to hide yourself away
Beneath your black cloak,
So that I would not recognize you.
Que debajo se mostraba

vuestra gracia y gentil ayre
y el cubrir con buen donaire
todo lo manifestava.
Underneath, your grace

And gentle airs were displayed,
And all that you revealed
Was veiled in charm
Asy que con mis enojos

e muy grande turbacin
all se fueron mis ojos
do tena el corazn.
So it was that in my agitated state

And in great confusion
My eyes also followed to that place
Where I put my heart.
96
English translation 2008 Coral Cantigas.
69
Csar Alejandro Carrillo (b.1957)

Csar Alejandro Carrillo is a Venezuelan composer, arranger, and choral director who,
like many of his predecessors, attended the acclaimed Escuela Superior de Msica Jos
Angel Lamas. But perhaps the most important influence he received was from composer
Modesta Bor who was his composition teacher while he studied at the Escuela Jos
Lorenzo Llamozas. Carillo is a versatile and creative musician who feels equally
comfortable composing sacred music and arranging Venezuelan folk music for choirs; he
has received more than 20 awards for both his compositions and arrangements. Carrillos
music has been published in Venezuela and by several American publishing houses.
In 1991 Carrillo founded Cantarte with the purpose of promoting and performing sacred
choral music from the Renaissance period to the present. Some of his best
compositionsLatin motets like the Salve Regina included in this anthologyare not
particularly Latin American in style, even though they have a sound that is particularly
Carrillos. Besides the Salve Regina he also has an O Magnum Mysterium and a Regina
Coeli that are published in the United States and that could be beautifully paired with
motets by the Spanish Renaissance composer TomsS Luis de Victoria.
In this entirely original composition, Carrillo pays conscious tribute to two great
composers of choral music, Anton Bruckner and Francis Poulenc.97 The descending
suspensions on measures 11 to 15 are almost a literal quote from a Bruckner motet
97
Csar Alejandro Carrillo, Salve Regina (Corvallis: earthsongs, 1988).
70
Christus factus est, and the close dissonant harmonies from measures 15 to 18 are
reminiscent of the opening measures of Poulencs O Magnum Mysterium.
Salve Regina, by Csar Alejandro Carrillo

Original text
Salve Regina, mater misericordiae:
Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.
Ad te suspiramos, gementes et flentes,
In hac lacrimarum valle.
Eja ergo, Advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos
Ad nos converte.
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum
Ventris tui,
Nobis post hoc exilium ostende.
O clemens: o pia
O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Hail, O Queen, Mother of mercy;
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope: hail!
To thee we cry, poor banished children of
Eve.
To thee we send up our sighs,
groaning and weeping in this valley of
tears.
Hasten therefore, our Advocate,
your merciful eyes
turn toward us.
And show us Jesus,
the blessed fruit of your womb,
after this exile.
O merciful, O pious
O sweet Virgin Mary.
Carillos motets are becoming very popular among choirs in the United States. They have
been recorded by the acclaimed Cuban choir Exaudi.99
Beatriz Corona (b. 1962)

Of all the music by contemporary choral composers, Beatriz Coronas is probably the
most performed in Latin America. Corona is a Cuban composer and choral director who
98
Jeffers, Tranlations and Annotations, 197.

America Sacra: Ramillete de Motetes para coro a capella de Argentina y otros pases de
Hispanoamrica en el siglo XX, Coro Exaudi de la Habana directed by Maria Felicia Prez, Jade 198 4792, 2001.
99
71
has established herself as one of todays best Latin American composers of choral music.
Corona studied at the Amadeo Roldn Conservatory of Havana and at the Escuela
Nacional de Arte de la Habana. She started composing as a young woman and has
produced an impressive number of choral piecesmore than 200, including eight
masses. Corona has also composed for chamber and full orchestra and has received
numerous awards for her compositions.
Beatriz Corona is mostly recognized for her mastery in setting to music the poems of the
most beloved Latin American writersamong them Mario Benedetti of Uruguay, Pablo
Neruda of Chile, Jos Mart and Nicols Guilln of Cuba, and Csar Vallejo of Per. Her
composition Corazn Coraza, a setting of a love poem by Mario Benedetti, has become a
classic among Latin American and Spanish choirs. Many of Coronas compositions are
characterized by the use of 6/8 against 3/4, which creates a sense of movement and
dance. She also uses suspended 4ths and 9ths in her harmonies, and she favors the use of
homophony over contrapuntal writing in order to give clarity to the text.
Roberto Valera, a Cuban contemporary composer, asked to comment about Coronas

work, described it this way:
They were Mario Benedettis verses that came to us in a music that would
shorten our breath, electric song, verse and music as glove in hand, as body and
shadow, as soil and life. What a profound way to translate word into music. What
a way to hold us from the first to the last sound. Corazn Coraza.100
Roberto Valera
100
From a speech given by Roberto Valera for the presentation of Beatriz Coronas music CD in Havana,
Cuba. Copy of the speech was kindly provided by Ms. Corona.
72
Corazn Coraza, by Beatriz Corona

Original text
Porque te tengo y no
porque te pienso
porque la noche est de ojos abiertos
porque la noche pasa y sigo amor
porque has venido a recoger tu imagen.
y eres mejor que todas tus imgenes
porque eres lindo, desde el pie hasta el
alma
porque eres bueno desde el alma a m.
porque te escondes dulce en el orgullo
pequeo y dulce Corazn Coraza.
Porque eres mo
porque no eres mo
aunque te miro y muero y peor que muero
si no te miro amor, si no te miro
porque tu siempre existes donde quiera
pero existes mejor donde te quiero
porque tu boca es sangre y tienes fro
tengo que amarte amor
tengo que amarte
aunque esta herida duela como dos
aunque te busque y no te encuentre
y aunque la noche pase
y yo te tenga
y no.
Because I have you and I dont
Because I think about you
Because the night is wide awake
Because the night goes by and Im still
here, love
Because you have come to retrieve your
image.
And you are better than all your images
Because youre beautiful from your feet to
your soul
Because youre good from your soul to me
Because you hide sweetly in your pride
Tiny and sweet armor heart!
Because youre mine
Because youre not mine
Because I look at you and die, and worse
than die
If I dont look at you, my love, if I dont
see you,
Because you always exist everywhere
But you exist better where I love you.
Because your mouth is blood and youre
cold
I have to love you, love
I have to love you
Even if this wound hurts as if it were two
Even if I look for you and cant find you
Even if the night goes by and I
Have you,
and dont.
Unfortunately, the adverse relationship between Cuba and the United States has deprived
101
Translation 2001 Coral Cantigas
73
American choral musicians and audiences of Beatriz Coronas music.
Jorge Crdoba (b. 1953)

Jorge Crdoba is a prolific Mexican composer and conductor who has written for mixed,
womens, mens, and childrens choirs. He studied at the Conservatorio Nacional de
Musica in Mexico and continued his composition and conducting studies in Brazil,
United States, Spain, and Hungary. A sought-after conductor and composer in Mexico,
Europe, and the United States, Crdoba is at present the music director of the Coro de
madrigalistas at Mexicos National Institute for the Arts.
He was commissioned to write The Divine Image, a choral piece premiered at the Sixth
World Symposium of Choral Music held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2002. In 2008
Crdoba was invited to collaborate with Phillip Brunelle, music director of Vocal
Essence in Minneapolis, as part of the project Cantar, a community outreach program
that brings Mexican composers to work with students from the Minnesota schools. In
2011 Crdoba will premiere his cantata Aqui ha nacido for four mixed choirs and four
Mexican marimbas to be performed with Vocal Essence at the Saint Paul Cathedral of
Minneapolis.
Crdoba wrote his Siete Haikus in 1992 and that year the composition won an honorable
mention in the Luis Sandi musical composition contest in Mexico City. The texts are
translations of poems by different Japanese poets. When translated to Spanish the haikus
lost their strict metrical form, but retained the brevity and richness of [their] imagery.
74
Crdoba used a very refined harmonic vocabulary that has impressionistic echoes, and a
number of subtle effects (glissandi with the mouth closed, whispering, etc.) that create
atmospheres of a highly evocative character.102
Siete Haikus, by Jorge Crdoba

Original text
English translation
I - Voy a caballo mi sombra va temblando

all en el fondo.
I - I'm riding on horseback and my shadow

trembles in the background.
II - Sobre el arrozal caen flores del cerezo

cielo estrellado.
II - The cherry blossom petals fall over the

rice fields under the starlit sky
III - Pongo a la luna entre ramas de pinos

segn me mueva.
III - The pine branches move under the

moon as I move.
IV - Un murcilago que vuela entre la

noche es ruido oscuro.
IV - A bat that flies in the night is like a

dark sound.
V - Veloz la rana al viejo estanque cae

chasquido de agua.
V - The frog jumps into the pool of water

and splashes water.
VI - Niebla del alba, como un sueo

borroso, la gente pasa.
VI - The fog in the early dawn, like a foggy

dream, people pass by.
VII - Vuelan hermosas las flores

derribadas? Son mariposas!
VII - Do flowers that fall fly beautifully?

They are butterflies!
This cycle of short works captures the imagery of the poems through word painting
aural illustrations of the text. For example, the first one, Voy a caballo, is written in 6/8
meter, with a moving rhythm that sounds like a horse galloping. The fifth song, with
102
CD liner notes by Sergio Ortiz in La noche: Modern Mexican Choral Masterpieces performed by The
Gregg Smigh Singers (Newport Classic NCD 85639), 2001.
75
rapid rhythms interrupted by eighth note rests, illustrates the movements of a frog in a
pond. The piece was premiered in 1993 by his Coro de madrigalistas and was recorded
by The Gregg Smith Singers in 2001.
Latin American Folklore: Source of Inspiration

The final compositions in the anthology represent a group of works inspired by folkloric
rhythms and styles from Latin America. They are not compositions from the nationalist
movement of the early 20th century; rather, they are works by renowned contemporary
composers whose musical styles range from romantic lieder to symphonic works to
avant-garde, and who chose folkloric forms as the base for some compositions. These
works illustrate the diversity of folk musical styles and genres present to this day in Latin
America.
For nearly three centuries, Latin American folklore has been a source of inspiration for
artists, musicians, and writers around the world. Latin Americas unique blend of Native
American, European, and African cultures gave birth to some of the most beautiful
musical forms in the world. Every Latin American country has developed its own dances
and musical styles by transforming the different elements received from the different
cultures into original musical styles and genres, each with its own characteristics and
peculiarities. Latin American music folklore, with its infinite richness and diversity,
continues to provide material for creation and innovation.
76
The Mountains of Argentina

Antonio Russo is a composer, choral and orchestra conductor, and music professor. Born
in Italy in 1934, he became a citizen of Argentina in 1960. Russo has conducted some of
the best choirs in Argentina: the Wagner Association Chorus (1966-1990), the Bach
Choir of Buenos Aires (1965-1985), and the Coro Estable del Teatro Coln de Buenos
Aires (1989-1992). Among his compositions are works for voice and piano, chamber
ensemble, orchestra, and chorus, including a secular cantata, Eros-Selene-Eros, and a
Mass for orchestra, chorus, and four soloists, Missa Corpus Christi. He has received
several awards for his orchestral conducting and in 1999 was recognized by Argentinas
Secretary of Culture as Personalidad emrita de la Cultura Argentina.
El gato de mi casa is one of Russos many choral compositions for a cappella chorus.
The text is a traditional Argentinean text about a cat, and Russo used the rhythmic
patterns of the gato, a traditional dance for couples from the mountainous area of centralwest Argentina, very similar to the well known dance chacarera. This dance can be either
sung or instrumental, but it is always accompanied by the bombo103 and the guitar, the
most important instrument in the music of this region. The rhythmic pattern is in 6/8
alternating with 3/4 metera very common pattern in some South American folk dances
that originated from the fandango, a Spanish dance introduced to the Americas during the
18th century.104
103
Bombo a drum used mostly in the Andes region made from the trunk of a tree with goat or llama skin.
The origin could be the Spanish military drum.
104
Ana Mara Job de Brusa. Ambitos Central y Cuyo, in Msica Tradicional Argentina (Buenos Aires:
Magisterio del Ro De La Plata, 2000), 68-74.
77
El gato de mi casa, by Antonio Russo

Original text
El gato de mi casa
Es muy ligero,
Corriendo a los conejos
Caz unos teros.
My familys cat
Is very fast,
Running after the rabbits
He hunted some teros.106
El gato de mi casa
Es muy ligero,
Corriendo a los ratones
Caz agujeros.
My familys cat
Is very fast,
Running after mice
He hunted holes.
El gato de mi casa
Es diferente,
Se esconde en la cocina
Si viene gente.
My familys cat
Is different
He hides in the kitchen
When visitors arrive.
Es ste el gato hermoso

Que a todos gusta,
Pues los maullidos suyos
A nadie asustan.
This is the beautiful cat

That everyone likes,
Who doesnt scare anyone
With his meows.
105
106
English translation by Diana V. Sez

Tero a bird from Argentina that derives its onomatopoeic name from its song: teru, teru, teru.
78
Example 2: Russos El gato de mi casa, ms. 33-45.
Reprinted here by kind permission of Ediciones GCC 2001
Contrasting Rhythms from Peru

Peru has one of the most diverse and richest folk music traditions in Latin America. The
music from the Andean region, with its Inca culture, has a strong Native American
imprint, whereas the music that originated in the Pacific coast areaswhich had a larger
Black populationhas a stronger African influence.
79
Some Native American musical forms survived colonization and were incorporated into
the new society: yarav or triste is one of them. The yaravi is a sad and melancholic song
from the pre-Colombian period. During the 19th century it became known as triste, which
in Spanish means sad. Accompanied by the quenathe bamboo flute played by the
Incastristes were originally songs of elegy or funeral songs. After colonization, the
natives incorporated the guitar. During the 19th century the tristes became love songs
about unrequited love and nostalgia.
Roberto Carpio composed Triste with his own text about the sadness the author feels
when he has to leave his beloved behind. The piece establishes the rhythmic pattern of
the triste in the first four measures of the introduction.
Triste by Roberto Carpio

Original text
Ya me voy a una tierra lejana
A un pas donde nadie me espera
Donde nadie sepa que yo muera
Donde nadie por m llorar.
Ay que lejos me lleva el destino
Como a hoja que el viento arrebata
Ay de m t no sabes ingrata
Lo que sufre este fiel corazn.
107
Im leaving to faraway lands
To a country where no one is waiting for
me
Where no one will know if Im dying
Where no one will cry for me.
Oh, how far is destiny taking me
Like a leaf snatched by the wind
Oh, ungrateful one, you dont know
How much this faithful heart suffers.
English translation Diana V. Sez.
80
Example 3: Opening measures of Carpios Triste.
Just as the triste is the result of the mixture of Native American and Spanish elements,
the festejo illustrates a musical outcome from the mixture of African and Spanish ones.
Festejo is an Afro-Peruvian dance developed during colonial times around the port cities
of Peru where there were larger population of Blacks. Festejo de Navidad is a Christmas
song composed by Herbert Bittrich, a Peruvian cardiologist and musician. The author of
the text, Alfredo Ostoja, was a lawyer from Lima. The poem is rich in regional
vocabulary and describes the Christmas traditions of Peruvians of African descent. This
choral composition won a contest for Peruvian Christmas music in the 1960s in the
category of music from the coast.
Even though Festejo de Navidad is not written in festejo rhythm, both the poet and
81
composer wanted to celebrate the African heritage in Peru. The onomatopoeic effects in
the chorus are in imitation of the sounds of the Afro-Peruvian musical instruments used
to accompany the festejo: the cajn and the quijada. The cajn is a rectangular wooden
box on which the player sits to strike the front and sides. The quijada is a donkey jaw that
is played by striking the wide part of the jaw with the fist to obtain a rattling sound.
Every time the choir exclaims Ha!, it resembles the sound of the quijada.
Bittrich uses notes from the pentatonic scale for the middle section, where the text talks
about the three Wise MenCaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. Even though he does not
reproduce the rhythmic pattern of the festejo, he consistently uses a syncopated rhythmic
pattern that is found in Afro-Latin American music throughout the Americas.
Festejo de Navidad, by Herbert Bittrich

Original text
Seor Don Jos, Seora Mara

Ha nacido en Lima, el nio Manuel.
Los negros del Rimac traen para El
Tondero y festejo, buuelos con miel.
Mr. Joseph, Mrs. Mary,

The baby Emmanuel was born in Lima.
The Black people from Rimac109
Bring tondero and festejo,110 and buns with
honey.
La comadre Juana ser mi madrina

Y phacerle caldo, mat a su gallina.
Ser su padrino el compai Quiones
Pa su ahijao divino, ricos picarones.
Juana will be His godmother,

She killed her chicken to prepare broth for
Him.
Friend Quiones will be His godfather
And will bring delicious picarones.111
108
English Translation, 1998 Coral Cantigas.

Rimac a district in Lima, Peru.
110
Tondero and festejo Afro-Peruvian dances.
111
Picarones sweet, ring-shaped fritters made with squash and honey.
109
82
El negro Gaspar desde Casa Grande

Trae pal niito caa pa chupar.
Caspar comes from Casa Grande112

And brings the baby sugar cane to suck on.
Un fino alfajor, su to Melchor

Que pa si zambito quiere lo major.
Uncle Melchior, who wants the best for his

little sambo, brings a delicious alfajor.113
El buen Baltazar, agita de azar

Pa que Manuelito, no vuelva a llorar.
The good Balthasar brings orange blossom

water,
So little Emmanuel will not cry.
Jesusito e mi alma, no llores as,

Que todos los negros se mueren por ti.
Del Paseo de Aguas vienen hasta aqu
Con arroz con leche, flor de capul.
Jesus of my soul, dont cry like that

Because all Black people would die for
you.
From Paseo de Aguas they come all the
way here
Bringing rice pudding and gooseberry
flower.
Those from Malambito bring
Sweet tamales and sesame bread.
Jesus of my soul, dont cry like that
Because all of us Blacks are now here.
Los de Malambito traen para ti

Humitas don dulce, pan de ajonjol.
Jesusito e mi alma, no llores as
Que todos los negros ya estamos aqu.
Example 4: Syncopated rhythmic pattern on bass line on Bittrichs Festejo de

Navidad
The Cuban Son

Ir a Santiago is a choral composition by Roberto Valera (b. 1938), a contemporary
Cuban composer and conductor who set a beautiful poem by Federico Garca Lorca to
one of the most influential and widespread Cuban musical forms: the son. The son was
112
113
Casa Grande Peruvian town.

Alfajor an almond pastry filled with a sweet filling (usually with dulce de leche)
83
born in the Eastern provinces of Cuba where it adopted the clave rhythm from the
Cuban rumba.114. Basically a song accompanied with percussion, the son combines
Spanish song elements with African rhythms, and it has become one of the most popular
and influential musical forms in Latin America. During the 1920s it became popular in
the dance clubs of Havana, Cubas capital city. Until then the Afro-Cuban percussion
instruments had not been well accepted in the dance orchestras of Havana because they
were considered to be from the lower social classes. According to the Cuban musicologist
and author Alejandro Carpentier, the son allowed the Cuban percussion, which had been
confined to the poorest neighborhoods and slums of Cuba, to reveal its marvelous
expressive resources, achieving universal status.115 The son is accompanied by the
tres,116 maracas, the giro,117 and the bongos.118
The basic rhythmic pattern of the son is similar to that of the tango and habanera. As
Carpentier describes it, the rhythm of the son is a simple dilation of the eternal tango
rhythm, altering the notes displacing the beats. The anticipated bass line suppresses the
initial string beat, but, as in the tango, the second note of each bar is inevitably the
briefest, in contrast with the note before, which is always the longest.
Federico Garca Lorca (1898-1936), one of the most beloved Spanish poets of all times,
was also an accomplished musician who found inspiration in the rich and diverse folklore
114
Rumba is an Afro-Cuban dance.

Alejandro Carpentier, Music in Cuba (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001), 228.
116
Tres - a Cuban stringed instrument derived from the Spanish guitar, consisting of three double strings
played with a pick. The tres is the signature instrument of the Cuban son.
117
Giro- a serrated gourd or calabash, scraped with a stick.
118
Bongos -- two small drums attached by a thick piece of wood, played while held between the knees.
115
84
of Andaluca. In March 1930, a group of Cuban intellectuals invited Lorca to present

several conferences, and he arrived in Cuba for a three-month stay. There he was
introduced to Cubas mulato culture, the best manifestation of the mix of Spanish and
African cultures. At that time Cuban composers like Amadeo Roldn and poets like
Nicols Guilln were exploring the rich African heritage in their works, and the son was
in its heyday all over Cuba. Lorca immersed himself in the experience.119 While in Cuba
Lorca wrote his poem Son de negros en Cuba as a homage to the city of Santiago, on the
eastern side of the island where the son had been created.
Ir a Santiago, by Roberto Valera

Original text
Cuando llegue la luna llena
ir a Santiago de Cuba,
ir a Santiago,
en un coche de agua negra.
Ir a Santiago.
Cantarn los techos de palmera.
Ir a Santiago.
Cuando la palma quiere ser cigea,
ir a Santiago.
Y cuando quiere ser medusa el pltano,
Ir a Santiago
con la rubia cabeza de Fonseca.
Ir a Santiago.
Y con la rosa de Romeo y Julieta
ir a Santiago.
Mar de papel y plata de monedas
Ir a Santiago.
When the moon has risen full
Im off to Santiago, Cuba,
off to Santiago
in a wagon of black water.
Off to Santiago.
Singing palms above the roof-tops.
Off to Santiago.
When the palm-tree wants to be a stork,
off to Santiago.
And the banana-tree a jellyfish,
Im off to Santiago.
with the blond head of Fonseca.
Off to Santiago.
With the rose, Juliets and Romeos,
off to Santiago.
Sea of paper, coins of silver,
off to Santiago.
119
Vilches, Luis Morillo. Garca Lorca y Cuba: Historia de una Pasin. Sociedad Filatlica y
Numismtica Granadina. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. <http://www.sfng.es/Articulos/lorcaycuba/lorcaycuba.html>.
120
Translated by A. S. Kline 2007 All Rights Reserved
(http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Spanish/FiveintheafternoonLorca.htm#_Toc527959415),
Internet, accessed on 3/25/2011.
85
Oh Cuba! Oh ritmo de semillas secas!

Ir a Santiago.
Oh cintura caliente y gota de madera!
Ir a Santiago.
Arpa de troncos vivos, caimn, flor de
tabaco!
Ir a Santiago.
Siempre dije que yo ira a Santiago
en un coche de agua negra.
Oh, Cuba! Oh, rhythm of dried seeds!

Off to Santiago.
Oh, belt of fire, drop of wood!
Off to Santiago.
Harp of living tree-trunks, caiman, tobacco
flower!
Off to Santiago.
I always said Id be off, off to Santiago,
in a wagon of black water.
Ir a Santiago.
Brisa y alcohol en las ruedas,
ir a Santiago.
Mi coral en la tiniebla,
ir a Santiago.
El mar ahogado en la arena,
ir a Santiago,
calor blanco, fruta muerta,
ir a Santiago.
Oh bovino frescor de caavera!
Oh Cuba! Oh curva de suspiro y barro!
Ir a Santiago.
Off to Santiago.
Air and alcohol on the wheels,
Im going to Santiago.
My coral in the twilight,
off to Santiago.
The ocean drowned in the sand,
off to Santiago.
Heat whitening, fruit rotting,
off to Santiago.
Oh, the sugar-canes dumb coolness!
Oh, Cuba, curve of sigh and clay!
Im off to Santiago.
This is the poem that Valera chose for his composition Ir a Santiago. Roberto Valera
studied at the Amadeo Roldn Conservatory of Cuba with such internationally
recognized composers as Jos Ardvol and Leo Brouwer. He continued his studies at the
Frederic Chopin School in Warsaw, where he earned the degree of Doctor in Pedagogy.
Valera is a member of the Cuban Writers and Artists Association and has received
numerous awards from Cuban, Polish, and Mexican institutions. His catalogue includes
pieces for soprano and orchestra, mixed choir, chamber ensemble, and orchestra; electroacoustic music; and music for ballet, dance, and film.
In Ir a Santiago Valera uses onomatopoeic sounds in the voices to imitate the harmonic
accompaniment patterns played in the tresfor example, the lines sung by the altos and
86
sopranos right at the opening of the piece. Throughout the piece we can also hear the
rhythmic pattern of the bass in the son sung by the basses:
Example 5: Excerpt from Valeras Ir a Santiago
87
CONCLUSION
I believe that all the music of Europe and the Americas that partakes
of the Western tradition should be integrated into a single narrative,
both in books and in courses.121
J. Peter Burkholder
J. Peter Burkholder, author of the recent edition of A History of Western Music and of
Norton Anthology of Western Music tells us that the music of the American continents
should be an integral part of the curriculum of Western music. I intend that this
anthology will contribute to and facilitate the inclusion of Latin American choral music
in music history curriculums. Choral educators and conductors in the United States
should begin a further exploration of Latin American musicits history, its composers,
its repertoirein order to enrich and diversify their own choral repertoires.
Knowledge about Latin American music has never been more relevant than today, when
Latinos have become the largest minority population in the United States.122 It is our
responsibility as music educators to provide our students and singers a well-rounded
education that includes music from places other than those that represent only the
Western European tradition. It is our duty to expose them to a diverse repertoire that will
121
J. Peter Burkholder, Music of the Americas, American Music 27, No. 4 (Winter 2009): 403.
Louise Fenner, Hispanics, the Largest U.S. Minority, Enrich the American Mosaic.America
- Engaging the World - America.gov. 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplaceenglish/2009/September/20090921163442xlrennef0.8085836.html>.
122
88
expand their musical knowledge and skillsrhythmic patterns that are new and
challenging, and poetry of the best writers in many languages and countries.
Exposure to the works in this anthology should help choral musicians understand several
important lessons:
In spite of the harsh conditions of colonial times, composers found a safe space in
the church to learn, compose, and perform some of the most striking music
written in Latin America.
After the American republics were established, a sense of national pride served as
inspiration for the creation of numerous a cappella works that are considered
standards in the Latin American choral repertoire to this day.
There is a promising future for the creation and performance of choral music in
Latin America thanks to the popularity of choral ensembles in countries such as
Argentina, Venezuela, and Cuba, and thanks to a new generation of composers
who are committed to the development and dissemination of choral music.
Latin American folk music, with its rich diversity and significance, is likely to be
a source of inspiration to composers for many years to come.
Music is an excellent way to discover and explore connections: cultural,

historical, and even emotional. In a world where differences are constantly used to
divide us from one another, music can help us as we celebrate those differences.
89
APPENDICES
90
APPENDIX A MUSIC SCORES
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Downloaded from Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL). <www.cpdl.org>
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Eso Rigor e Repente

Guineo a 5 voces
Gaspar Fernandez
Catedral de Oxaca
Edited by Coral Cantigas, 1999.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Piotr Nawrot 1994.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Universidad Catlica

Sedes Sapientiae 2009.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of the Fundacin Vicente

Emilio Sojo 1992.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Ediciones Schola Cantorum

de Puerto Rico.
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Reprinted with the kind permission of the Fundacin Vicente

Emilio Sojo 1993.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of SACVEN (Sociedad de Autores y

Compositores Venezolanos)
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Beatriz Corona.

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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Csar Alejandro Carrillo.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Jorge Crdoba.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Armando Snchez Mlaga. Director of the
Centro de Estudios, Investigacin y Difusin de la Msica Latinoamericana, Pontificia
Universidad Catlica del Per.
215
216
Reprinted here with the kind permission of Armando Snchez Mlaga. Director of the
Centro de Estudios, Investigacin y Difusin de la Msica Latinoamericana, Pontificia
Universidad Catlica del Per.
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Reprinted here with the kind permission of Roberto Valera
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APPENDIX B SAMPLES OF CORAL CANTIGAS

CONCERT PROGRAMS
237
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241
PROGRAM
Coral Cantigas
with guests Conjunto Mrida & Emily Riggs
WELCOMING REMARKS
Beatriz Haspo, Board President
\
En primavera ................................. Edmundo Disdier (Puerto Rico: b.1927); arr. Ruben Coln Tarrats
Dos corazones ................................................................................ Blas Galindo (Mexico: 1920-1993)
Me gustas cuando callas ................................... Blas Galindo; poem: Pablo Neruda (Chile: 1904-1973)
Se equivoc61a paloma ........................................................ Carlos Guastavino (Argentina: 1912-2000);
poem: Rafael Alberti (Spain: 1902-1999)
Sonata para viola .......................................................................... Modesta Bor(Venezuela: 1926-1998)
Second movement - Madrigal
Cassie Stephenson, viola; David Ballena, piano
En tanto que de rosa ............................................................ Francisco Guerrero (Spain: ca.1528-1599);
poem: Garcilaso de la Vega (Spain: ca. 1501-1536)
El limonar florido ......................................... Paul Carey; poem: Antonio Machado (Spain: 1875-1939)
I. Tal vez la mano, en sueo
II. Tarde tranquila
III. Desgarrada la nube; el arcoris
IV. Luz del alma
Dana Weiderhold, violin; Jorge Espinoza, cello
INTERMISSION
La Marinera ........................................................Rosa Mercedes Ayarza de Morales (Peru: 1881-1969)

Amor, mi buen amor .................................................................. Inocente Carreo (Venezuela: b.1919)
Pampamapa ................................................................................................................ Carlos Guastavino
Emily Riggs, soprano; David Ballena, piano
Quien fuera como el jardn ......................................................................................... Carlos Guastavino
Soneto de la noche........................................... Morten Lauridsen (USA: b.1943); poem: Pablo Neruda
Pregntale a ese mar .................................................................................................... Inocente Carreo;
.
poem: Juan Beroes (Venezuela: 1914-1975)
Solo de guitarra ..................................................................................... Beatriz Corona (Cuba: b.1962);

poem: Nicols Guilln (Cuba: 1902-1989)
Libertango - Astor Piazzolla (Argentina: 1921-1992)
Dana Weiderhold, violin; Cassie Stephenson, viola; Jorge Espinoza, cello
Primavera Portea ........................................................................................................... Astor Piazzolla
Patrons are requested to silence pagers, cellular phones,
and signal watches during performance.
No photographs or recordings without the permission of Coral Cantigas.
242
APPENDIX C CONTACTS AND RESOURCES
243
LIST OF CONTACTS AND RESOURCES

1)
Hanacpachap cussicuinin Choral public domain library www.cpdl.org
2)
Dios Itlaconantzine - Choral public domain library www.cpdl.org
3)
Laetatus sum in his - Inter-American Music Review VII, no. 1 (Fall-Winter 1985).
Stevenson, Robert, ed. (The entire volume includes music from the Renaissance and
Baroque periods from Latin America edited by Dr. Robert Stevenson)
4)
Exsultate Iusti in Domino - Choral public domain library www.cpdl.org
5)
Eso rigor e repente - Inter-American Music Review VII, no. 1 (Fall-Winter 1985).
Also available through Choral public domain library www.cpdl.org
6)
Los coflades de la estleya - Inter-American Music Review 6, no. 2 (Spring-Summer 1985).
7)
Domine ad adjuvandum me In Msica de vsperas en las reducciones de

Chiquitos-Bolivia (1691-1767): Obras de Domenico Zipoli y maestros jesuitas e
indgenas annimos, Nawrot, Piotr, editor. You may also find some music by Zipoli
at Ediciones GCC in Argentina. Tel. (5411) 4542-5018 www.gcc.org.ar
8)
De Lamentatione Jeremiae Available from Russell Editions. 541 Lilac Drive, Los
Osos, CA 93402. (805)528-8734 ([email protected]).
9)
En el da festivo In Jos de Orejn y Aparicio: La msica y su contexto. Lima:

Universidad Catlica Sedes Sapientiae, 2009. Diana Fernndez Calvo, editor.
10) In monti Oliveti In Musicos Venezolanos de la Colonia, vol. 1. Published in

Venezuela by The Fundacin Vicente Emilio Sojo http://www.funves.gob.ve/
11) Me gusta cuando callas published by Ediciones Mexicanas de Msica, A.C.(Av.
Jurez # 18, Despacho 206 Col. Centro, C.P. 06050 Mxico, D.F. Tel. 5521 5855)
12) Tres epitafios published by Peer International Corporation
13) Para la sepultura de Don Quijote (Peer Music 1684733)
14) Para la sepultura de Dulcinea (Peer Music 0020319)
15) Para la sepultura de Sancho Panza (Peer Music 0020325)
16) Se equivoc la paloma published by Editorial Melos (formerly Ricordi) http://www.ricordimusica.com.ar/ Published in the United States by Neil J. Kjos (ED
8788)
244
17) Villancicos by Alfonso Letelier published by the Instituto de extensin musical de

la Universidad de Chile.
18) Ave Maria - Ediciones Schola Cantorum de Puerto Rico; Prof. Luis Olivieri, editor.
(P.O. Box 21663, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931)
19) Pregntale a ese mar published in the United States by Santa Barbara Music
Publishing (SBMP 301)
20) Mata del anima sola - published in Venezuela by The Fundacin Vicente Emilio
Sojo http://www.funves.gob.ve/
21) Pescador de anclas Modesta Bor music is copyrighted by SACVEN: Sociedad de
autores y compositores de Venezuela http://www.sacven.org/
22) Salve Regina published in the United States by earthsongs
www.earthsongschoralmusic.com
23) El gato de mi casa published by Ediciones GCC in Argentina. Tel. (5411) 45425018 www.gcc.org.ar
24) Triste and Festejo de Navidad published by Centro de Estudios, Investigacin y
Difusin de la Msica Latinoamericana Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per
http://cemdlat.pucp.edu.pe/
245
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY
246
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Baker, Geoff. Latin American Baroque: performance as a post-colonial act? Early
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Barwick, Steven. Two Mexico City Choirbooks 0f 1717: An anthology of sacred
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Bautista Plaza, Juan, and Conchita Rexach. Music in Caracas during the Colonial Period
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Bermdez, Egberto. La msica en el arte colonial de Colombia. Bogot: Fundacin de
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________. Organizacin musical y repertorio en la Catedral de Bogot durante el siglo
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Bowers, Teresa. The Golden Age of Choral Music in the Cathedrals of Colonial
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Discography
Music from the Viceregal period

Angelicum de Puebla/Shola Cantorum de Mxico directed by Benjamn Jurez
Echenique. Mxico Barroco/Puebla I: Matines de Natividad, 1653. Juan Gutirrez de
252
Padilla. Urtex UMA 2004, 1995. CD.

Angelicum de Puebla/Shola Cantorum de Mxico/Nios Cantores de la UNAM directed
by Benjamn Jurez Echenique. Mxico Barroco/Puebla II: Missa Ego Flos Campi, Juan
Gutirrez de Padilla. Urtex UMA 2005, CD.
Ars Nova. Mexican Colonial Music from the 16th and 17th centuries. AND 01, 1995. CD.
Camerata Renacentista de Caracas directed by Isabel Palacios. Baroque music of Latin
America. Dorian DOR-93199, 1992. CD.
Camerata Renacentista de Caracas directed by Isabel Palacios. Msica del Pasado de
Amrica. Fundacin Camerata de Caracas CC1 101 01, 1993. CD.
Camerata Renacentista de Caracas directed by Isabel Palacios. Musique en la Cathdrale
Santa Fe de Bogot Vol. II. K617077-2, 1997. CD.
Canto directed by Egberto Bermudez. Msica del periodo colonial en Amrica Hispana.
Musica Americana MA-HA001, 1993. CD.
Cantora of the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help. Domenico Zipoli: Sacred music of
the Missions directed by Jess Gabriel Segado. JADE 91007-2, 1997. CD.
Capella Cervantina directed by Horacio Franco. Msica Barroca Mexicana. Forlane 75016773, 1998. CD.
Carmina Latina: Sacred chants of Colonial music from Latin America, various
performers, JADE 91005-2, 1997. CD.
Chanticleer. Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe: 1764. Teldec LC 6019, 1998. CD.
Chanticleer. Mexican Baroque. Teldec LC 6019, 1994. CD.
Coral Nova and Orquesta de Cmara de la Paz directed by Romiro Soriano Arce.
Barroco de Bolivia Msica de Navidad-Vol.I. Cantus CA-002-3. CD.
Coral Nova and Orquesta de Cmara de la Paz directed by Romiro Soriano de La Paz.
Msica de vsperas en las reducciones de Chiquitos-Bolivia (1691-1767).
Cantus CA-002-2, 1995. CD.
Coro de la Catedral de Mxico. Villancicos de la colonia. Spartacus Discos 21002, 1993.
CD.
Coro Hispano de San Francisco and Conjunto Nuevo Mundo directed by Juan Pedro
Gaffney. Vamos al portal: music of the Iberian and Iberoamerican Baroque celebrating
253
the feasts of the Nativitiy cycle. Pro Musica 1001, 1996. CD.
Exaudi Choir of Cuba. El gran barroco del Per directed by Felicia Prez. JADE LC
8126, 1999. CD.
Exaudi Choir of Cuba. Un barroco cubano del siglo XVIII: Esteban Salas directed by
Maria Felicia Prez. JADE 35746-2, 1996. CD.
Grupo de Canto Coral directed by Nstor Andrenacci. Convidando est la noche:
Navidad musical en la Amrica colonial. GCC 1001, 1998. CD.
Lima Triumphante directed by Jos Quesada Macchiavello. En el dia festivo: villancicos
y cantadas de Jos de Orejn y Aparicio. Universidad Catlica Peru: Sedes Sapientiae,
2009. CD.
Los Angeles Chamber Singers Capella directed by Peter Rutenberg. Padilla: Sun of
Justice. Rubedo Canis Music RCM 12006, 2005. CD.
SAVAE (San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble). Guadalupe: Virgen de los Indios,
Iago/Talking Taco Music, 1998. CD.
SAVAE. Native Angels. Iago/Talking Taco Music, 1996. CD.
Schola Cantorum Conjunto de Cmara de la Ciudad de Mxico directed by Benjamn
Jurez Echenique. Mxico Barroco Vol. I. Urtex UMA 2001, 1995. CD.
Segundo Festival de Msica Renacentista y Barroca Americana: Misiones de Chiquitos.
Asociacin Pro Arte y Cultura de Bolivia (APAC), 1998. CD.
The Sixteen. Streams of Tears: Juan Gutirrez Padilla. CORO COR 16059. CD.
The Cathedral Singers directed by Piotr Nawrot, Baroque music from the Bolivian
Rainforest, Divine Word Missionaries, 1995. CD.
The Harp Consort directed by Andrew Lawrence-King. Missa Mexicana. Harmonia
mundi HM 907293, 2002. CD.
The Mission (movie). Written by Robert Bolt and directed by Roland Joff. Warner
Brothers Distr., 1986. DVD.
Urubich: Les Chemins Du Baroque Bolivie. Baroque Indien a la Mission Franciscaine
dUrubach, K. 617101 MD 827, 1999. CD.
Westminster Cathedral Choir directed by James ODonnell. Masterpieces of Mexican
Polyphony. Hyperion CDA 66330, 1989. CD.
254
Music after independence

Camerata Coral directed by Amarilis Pagn-Vila. De aqu y de all. Camerata Coral de
Puerto Rico CC5016, 2002. CD.
Coro Bellas Artes. Chile: FONDART, 2000. CD.
Coro Cervantes. Oratio: 20th Century Sacred Music from Spain and Latin America. Guild
GMCD 7266, 2003. CD.
Coro de Cmara Exaudi de la Habana directed by Maria Felicia Prez. Amrica Sacra:
Ramillete de Motetes para coro a capella de Argentina y otros pases de Hispanoamrica
en el siglo XX. JADE LC 8126, 2001. CD.
Coro de Cmara Exaudi de la Habana directed by Maria Felicia Prez. Cantos y ritmos
americanos. Unicornio, 2002. CD.
Coro de Cmara Universidad Catlica de Temuco directed by Ricardo Daz Arcos.
Paisaje Musical Chileno. Fondart UCT-SVR-3006-8, 1999. CD.
Coro Femenino y Coro de Madrigalistas Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Peru.
Cantares de Navidad. Centro de Estudios, Investigacin y Difusin de la Msica
Latinoamericana COROFM98, 1998. CD.
Coro Nacional de Jvenes Argentina by Nestor Zadoff. Cuatro Siglos de Msica Coral
Latinoamericana. Cosentino IRCO 215, 1995. CD.
Escalada, Oscar, ed. Latin American Choral Music recorded by the Coro del Nuevo
Mundo del Teatro Argentino de La Plata. Kjos Music Company, 1999. CD.
Estvez, Antonio. La cantata criolla. Performed by the Simn Bolvar Orchestra of
Venezuela directed by Eduardo Mata. Dorian Discovery DIS-80101, 1992. CD.
Exaudi de la Habana directed by Mara Felicia Prez. America Sacra: Ramillete de
Motetes para coro a capella de Argentina y otros pases de Hispanoamrica en el siglo
XX. Jade 198 479-2, 2001.
Gregg Smith Singers directed by Gregg Smith. La noche. Newport Classic NCD 85639,
2001. CD.
Guinand, Maria, ed. Msica de Latinoamrica. Earthsongs, 1998. CD.
Popular Music Series 1: Catalogue published scores. Ediciones GCC Argentina Voces P001, 2002. Promotional CD.
255
Schola Cantorum de Caracas directed by Alberto Grau. Antologa Uno: Msica

Venezolana y Latinoamericana. Fundacin Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. CD.
Schola Cantorum de Caracas directed by Alberto Grau. Musica Coral Latinoamericana
S. XX. Fundacin Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. CD.
Schola Cantorum de Caracas directed by Alberto Grau. Antologa del madrigal
venezolano. Fundacin Mito Juan Pro- Msica, 1975. LP.
The Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola directed by Kent Tritle. Alberto Ginastera: The
Lamentations of Jeremiah and Alfred Schnittke: Concerto for Choir. MSR Classics MS
1251, 2008. CD.
256

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ABSTRACT

CANTEMOS A CORO: AN ANTHOLOGY OF

Dr. Edward Maclary

CANTEMOS A CORO: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHORAL MUSIC

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the

CHAPTER III. HISTORY GOES ON: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS ................. 68

Pescador de anclas, by Modesta Bor ................................................................................67

LIST OF MUSIC SCORES

The Purpose of this Anthology

Of course, it would be impossible to summarize the history of choral music in Latin

Latin America is a very diverse region, so it would be impossible to represent every

CHAPTER I. CHORAL MUSIC DURING THE COLONIAL ERA

Burkholder and Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 94.

(ca.1480-1572), a Flemish Franciscan who arrived in Mexico with other missionaries in

Don Hernando Franco

Dios itlaconantzine (c. 1599), by Don Hernando Franco

First Printed Music in the Americas

Juan Prez Bocanegra

Hanacpachap cussicuinin (c. 1631), attributed to Juan Prez Bocanegra

English translation public domain

helper of the weak.

Attend to our pleas,

The Viceroyalties: Governance by Church and State

originally comprised most of South America (except Venezuela) as well as Panama.11

Music in the Cathedrals

Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo (ca.1533-1620)

Laetatus Sum in His, motet by Gutierre Fernndez Hidalgo

In domum Domini bimus.

I rejoiced at the words that were spoken

Stantes erant pedes nostri in atriis tuis,

Our feet were standing in your courts, O

Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus,

For whither the tribes ascended, the tribes

Mendoza De Arce, Music in Ibero-America, 135.

ad confitendum nomini Domini.

the name of the Lord.

Rogate quae ad pacem sunt Jerusalem

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,

Propter fratres meos et proximos meos

For the sake of my brothers and neighbors,

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and

Juan Gutirrez de Padilla (ca. 1590-1664)

Psalm 32, Exsultate Iusti in Domino, by Juan Gutirrez de Padilla

et omnia opera ejus in fide.

And all his works are done in faithfulness.

Diligit misericordiam et judicium

He loves righteousness and judgment:

Et spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum.

Villancicos in the Americas: Music in the Vernacular

Gaspar Fernandes (ca. 1570-1629)

language of the Aztecs.

Eso rigor e repente, guineo by Gaspar Fernandes

This I say firmly:

We want the child to see the Blacks neat and

Translation by Christopher Moroney 2000, WLP. Taken from http://www.savae.org/noche.html;

Que como sa noso hermano

Since He is our brother,

We bring a garnet necklace;