Musical Identities, the Western Canon and Speech about Music in Twentieth-Century Mexico

CONFERENCE REPORTS

Secular Genres in Sacred Contexts?: the Villancico and the Cantata in the Iberian World, 1400-1800

The Conference program provided below provides both an overview of the topics and the presenters at the conference devoted to the Villancico, as well as an indication of the range of disciplines brought together by Alvaro Torrente and Tess Knighton. To the best of this reviewer’s knowledge, this was the first international and interdisciplinary conference ever to be devoted to the study of this genre.

What struck one most powerfully was both the need for a conference such as this and the positive and also the limiting effects of scholarly specialization. All present were made aware of the emerging need to have both better working definitions of the villancico and also more careful control over an astonishingly large and diverse poetic/music repertory. Taxonomic descriptions of textual and musical types were juxtaposed with contextual studies of villancico repertories which remain from the Iberian Peninsula to Asia. Literary questions with broad focus and others that were intensely focused were placed alongside studies that focused intently upon composers and style analysis.

As the organizers have plans to publish a portion of the proceedings, a brief review and presentation of the proceedings will have to suffice in this context. For this reviewer, the proceedings opened up heretofore unknown regions of scholarship and revealed a myriad of musical repertoires that await study, performance and analysis. This was a remarkable scholarly event, made even more humanly engaging by its location in the heart of the University of London complex at Senate House. The organizers outdid themselves in every possible manner, and all participants came away realizing that the villancico occupies a special place in the musical, social and literary history of the Hispanic world.

Simposio Internacional de Musicología: ¿Existe la música misional?
Modalidades, estrategias y estilos en el uso de música en reducciones y doctrinas en América colonial.

Centro Iberoamericano de Formación de la Agencia. Española de Cooperación Internacional

Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia

8 - 9 de mayo de 1998

Programa de actividades

Viernes 8 de mayo

Acto inaugural:

Palabras del Director del CIF-AECL

D. Juan Ignacio Pita Rodrigáñez

Palabras del Presidente APAC

D. Alcides Parejas

Inauguración a cargo del Rptte. Viceministerio de Cultura

D. Piotr Nawrot

Presentación del Simposio a cargo del Coordinador

D. Bernardo Illari

Música misional: el problema

11:00

Primera sesión: Los Jesuitas en Paraguay y Brasil

Moderador: Prof José López-Calo, S.J.

Expositor: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J. (Boston College)

Música, artes y culturas en la Compañia de Jesús:

Una perspectiva misional

Expositor: Paulo Castagna (Universidade Estadual Paulista, Sao Paulo)

El canto de órgano en las casas y aldeias jesuiticas brasileñas en los siglos XVI y XVII

14:30

Segunda Sesión: Anexos, doctrinas, parroqias

Moderador: Leonardo Waisman

Expositor: Juan Carlos Estensoro-Fuchs (CERMA-EHESS, París)

Música en las doctrinas: Evangelización, catequesis y Culto católico en Los Andes

16:00

Expositores: Arturo Duarte (SUNY-Albany)

Bernardo Illari (University of Chicago)

Los pueblos de visita de Guatemala: organización y dinámica de un repertorio musical singular

17:00

Tercera sesión: Los jesuitas en Charcas

Moderador: Prof. Egberto Bermúdez

Expositor: Piotr Nawrot (Viceministerio de Cultura, La Paz)

La música misional en Moxos y Chiquitos¿estilo o práctica?

Expositores: Claudia Prudencio (Conservatorio Nacional, La Paz)

Maria Eugenia Soux (Conservalorio Nacional, La Paz)

Moxos post-jesuítico: "Transformación de los símbolos" en las copias musicales

Expositor: Leonardo Waisman (Conicet Córdoba - Universidad de Buenos Aires)

Presencia indígena en la música de los pueblos de Moxos

20:30 Concierto: Vísperas solemnes de San Juan Bautista en el colegio jesuítico de La Plata (c. 1780)

Catedral, Metropolitana

Sábado 9 de mayo

9:30

Cuarta sesión: Los Franciscanos en América del Norte

Moderador: Piotr Nawrot

Expositor: John Koegel (University of Missouri-Columbia)

La música en las misiones franciscanas de Nuevo México entre los siglos XVII y XIX

Expositor: William Summers (Dartmouth College)

El principio y el fin: La música en las misiones franciscanas de Alta California.

11:30

Quinta sesión: Los jesuitas en Colombia y Chile

Moderador: Juan Carlos Estenssoro-Fuchs

Expositor: Egberto Bermúdez (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá)

Las actividades musicales en las misiones jesuiticas de los Llanos colombo-venezolanos: Una aproximación

14:00

Epositor: Victor Rondón (Universidad de Chile, Santiago)

Música misional mapuche

14:30

Mesa Redonda: ¿Existe una música misional?

Moderador: Bernardo Illari

Participan: Piotr Nawrot, William Summers, Leonardo Waisman

16:00

Recomendaciones y cierre

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The Conference Program listed above also proved to be a remarkable musical and intellectual success. It was a unique event. Those attending were struck by the fact that vast amounts of music survive from the mission churches established in the Americas by member of religious orders who came from virtually all parts of Western Europe. We were struck also by the fact that this conference may have been a first of its kind--a shocking fact considering both the antiquity of the missions, the scope and beauty of the surviving music and our own forthcoming entry into the second millennium.

As the conference was imbedded within the remarkable month-long II Festival Internacional de música renacentista y barroca americana, with its one hundred events that were being held through out the entire region around Santa Cruz de la Sierra, all of the participants were able to observe a broad section of the cultural workings of this beautiful and fast-growing region of Bolivia. As with the conference dedicated to the villancico, the proceedings are due for publication. These papers will undoubtedly serve as a foundation for additional research on this topic and also function as a strong motivating factor for the organization of additional conferences devoted to what is arguably one of the most complex and fascinating chapters in human artistic history.

Bernardo Illari has performed a great service to scholarship by organizing this event, which was a splendid success on every level and in every way. Special thanks must also be offered to the Centro Iberoamericano de Formación de la Agencia Española de Cooperación and its director Mr. Juan Ignacio Pita Rodrigáñez. His organizational vision was only surpassed by his unflagging hospitality.

"The Organ in the Hispano-American World."

By Enrique A. Arias

A single-day symposium was held July 11, 1998 at the Newberry Library on "The Organ in the Hispano-American World." The featured speaker was Susan Tattershall, well known to organ enthusiasts because of her recent work in restoring organs in Mexico, most recently at the Cathedral of Oaxaca. Ms. Tattershall gave a brilliant slide presentation on the transmission of the organ from Spain to Mexico, with commentary on builders and the special features of the churches for which these organs were built. She also discussed the details of each organ's design and construction.

During the afternoon, the following papers were delivered: "The Organs of El Escorial and the Hispanic-American Tradition of Organ Building and Playing," Dr. James Wyly; "Sources for Hispanic Organ Performance and Practice at the Newberry Library," Dr. Enrique Alberto Arias; "Performance Practice of Spanish solo organ repertory in the 16th and 17th centuries," Dr. David Schrader.

This was followed by a concert given by Ars Musica Chicago at the Church of the Ascension which included organ works by Cabezón, Peraza, and Cabanilles. Also performed were some Spanish anonymous motets from the early 18th century, an ornamented version of Victoria's "O Magnum Mysterium", and chants from the Graduale Dominicale (1576) the first printed music book from Mexico.


	CONFERENCE REPORTS Secular Genres in Sacred Contexts?: the Villancico and the Cantata in the Iberian World, 1400-1800 The Conference program provided below provides both an overview of the topics and the presenters at the conference devoted to the Villancico, as well as an indication of the range of disciplines brought together by Alvaro Torrente and Tess Knighton. To the best of this reviewer’s knowledge, this was the first international and interdisciplinary conference ever to be devoted to the study of this genre. What struck one most powerfully was both the need for a conference such as this and the positive and also the limiting effects of scholarly specialization. All present were made aware of the emerging need to have both better working definitions of the villancico and also more careful control over an astonishingly large and diverse poetic/music repertory. Taxonomic descriptions of textual and musical types were juxtaposed with contextual studies of villancico repertories which remain from the Iberian Peninsula to Asia. Literary questions with broad focus and others that were intensely focused were placed alongside studies that focused intently upon composers and style analysis. As the organizers have plans to publish a portion of the proceedings, a brief review and presentation of the proceedings will have to suffice in this context. For this reviewer, the proceedings opened up heretofore unknown regions of scholarship and revealed a myriad of musical repertoires that await study, performance and analysis. This was a remarkable scholarly event, made even more humanly engaging by its location in the heart of the University of London complex at Senate House. The organizers outdid themselves in every possible manner, and all participants came away realizing that the villancico occupies a special place in the musical, social and literary history of the Hispanic world. Simposio Internacional de Musicología: ¿Existe la música misional? Modalidades, estrategias y estilos en el uso de música en reducciones y doctrinas en América colonial. Centro Iberoamericano de Formación de la Agencia. Española de Cooperación Internacional Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia 8 - 9 de mayo de 1998 Programa de actividades Viernes 8 de mayo Acto inaugural: Palabras del Director del CIF-AECL D. Juan Ignacio Pita Rodrigáñez Palabras del Presidente APAC D. Alcides Parejas Inauguración a cargo del Rptte. Viceministerio de Cultura D. Piotr Nawrot Presentación del Simposio a cargo del Coordinador D. Bernardo Illari Música misional: el problema 11:00 Primera sesión: Los Jesuitas en Paraguay y Brasil Moderador: Prof José López-Calo, S.J. Expositor: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J. (Boston College) Música, artes y culturas en la Compañia de Jesús: Una perspectiva misional Expositor: Paulo Castagna (Universidade Estadual Paulista, Sao Paulo) El canto de órgano en las casas y aldeias jesuiticas brasileñas en los siglos XVI y XVII 14:30 Segunda Sesión: Anexos, doctrinas, parroqias Moderador: Leonardo Waisman Expositor: Juan Carlos Estensoro-Fuchs (CERMA-EHESS, París) Música en las doctrinas: Evangelización, catequesis y Culto católico en Los Andes 16:00 Expositores: Arturo Duarte (SUNY-Albany) Bernardo Illari (University of Chicago) Los pueblos de visita de Guatemala: organización y dinámica de un repertorio musical singular 17:00 Tercera sesión: Los jesuitas en Charcas Moderador: Prof. Egberto Bermúdez Expositor: Piotr Nawrot (Viceministerio de Cultura, La Paz) La música misional en Moxos y Chiquitos¿estilo o práctica? Expositores: Claudia Prudencio (Conservatorio Nacional, La Paz) Maria Eugenia Soux (Conservalorio Nacional, La Paz) Moxos post-jesuítico: "Transformación de los símbolos" en las copias musicales Expositor: Leonardo Waisman (Conicet Córdoba - Universidad de Buenos Aires) Presencia indígena en la música de los pueblos de Moxos 20:30 Concierto: Vísperas solemnes de San Juan Bautista en el colegio jesuítico de La Plata (c. 1780) Catedral, Metropolitana Sábado 9 de mayo 9:30 Cuarta sesión: Los Franciscanos en América del Norte Moderador: Piotr Nawrot Expositor: John Koegel (University of Missouri-Columbia) La música en las misiones franciscanas de Nuevo México entre los siglos XVII y XIX Expositor: William Summers (Dartmouth College) El principio y el fin: La música en las misiones franciscanas de Alta California. 11:30 Quinta sesión: Los jesuitas en Colombia y Chile Moderador: Juan Carlos Estenssoro-Fuchs Expositor: Egberto Bermúdez (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá) Las actividades musicales en las misiones jesuiticas de los Llanos colombo-venezolanos: Una aproximación 14:00 Epositor: Victor Rondón (Universidad de Chile, Santiago) Música misional mapuche 14:30 Mesa Redonda: ¿Existe una música misional? Moderador: Bernardo Illari Participan: Piotr Nawrot, William Summers, Leonardo Waisman 16:00 Recomendaciones y cierre ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The Conference Program listed above also proved to be a remarkable musical and intellectual success. It was a unique event. Those attending were struck by the fact that vast amounts of music survive from the mission churches established in the Americas by member of religious orders who came from virtually all parts of Western Europe. We were struck also by the fact that this conference may have been a first of its kind--a shocking fact considering both the antiquity of the missions, the scope and beauty of the surviving music and our own forthcoming entry into the second millennium. As the conference was imbedded within the remarkable month-long II Festival Internacional de música renacentista y barroca americana, with its one hundred events that were being held through out the entire region around Santa Cruz de la Sierra, all of the participants were able to observe a broad section of the cultural workings of this beautiful and fast-growing region of Bolivia. As with the conference dedicated to the villancico, the proceedings are due for publication. These papers will undoubtedly serve as a foundation for additional research on this topic and also function as a strong motivating factor for the organization of additional conferences devoted to what is arguably one of the most complex and fascinating chapters in human artistic history. Bernardo Illari has performed a great service to scholarship by organizing this event, which was a splendid success on every level and in every way. Special thanks must also be offered to the Centro Iberoamericano de Formación de la Agencia Española de Cooperación and its director Mr. Juan Ignacio Pita Rodrigáñez. His organizational vision was only surpassed by his unflagging hospitality. "The Organ in the Hispano-American World." By Enrique A. Arias A single-day symposium was held July 11, 1998 at the Newberry Library on "The Organ in the Hispano-American World." The featured speaker was Susan Tattershall, well known to organ enthusiasts because of her recent work in restoring organs in Mexico, most recently at the Cathedral of Oaxaca. Ms. Tattershall gave a brilliant slide presentation on the transmission of the organ from Spain to Mexico, with commentary on builders and the special features of the churches for which these organs were built. She also discussed the details of each organ's design and construction. During the afternoon, the following papers were delivered: "The Organs of El Escorial and the Hispanic-American Tradition of Organ Building and Playing," Dr. James Wyly; "Sources for Hispanic Organ Performance and Practice at the Newberry Library," Dr. Enrique Alberto Arias; "Performance Practice of Spanish solo organ repertory in the 16th and 17th centuries," Dr. David Schrader. This was followed by a concert given by Ars Musica Chicago at the Church of the Ascension which included organ works by Cabezón, Peraza, and Cabanilles. Also performed were some Spanish anonymous motets from the early 18th century, an ornamented version of Victoria's "O Magnum Mysterium", and chants from the Graduale Dominicale (1576) the first printed music book from Mexico.
	Back to Vol 4, no. 2 contents
	News \| Bibliographies \| Home