Mexican polyphony
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    I've been looking at polyphony composed in Mexico and am very intrigued by many of these works.

    I have no previous experience with these composers so I'm just trying to figure out who's who, what's what, and where to find scores. I've been looking at works by Padilla, Capillas, and Salazar. Other than these, who are the other main figureheads of Mexican polyphony?

    CPDL and IMSLP both seem to be kinda light in resources for Mexican composers... does anyone have another source? Or have any legal scores they might consider giving to the above websites? For example, Padilla's Wikipedia biography says "over 700 pieces survive" - yet CPDL has only 6.
  • R J StoveR J Stove
    Posts: 302
    The late musicologist Robert Stevenson published modern editions of quite a few Mexican (and other Latin American) choral compositions, I understand. How readily available his publications are these days, I don't know (although I imagine any decent academic library in the States would possess at least some of them; and a Worldcat.org search, which I've not attempted, would be helpful in that respect).

    Meanwhile I presume you're familiar with the various Hyperion CDs devoted to this repertoire?

    http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDH55317

    http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67524
  • JaredOstermann
    Posts: 488
    We had Chanticleer for a concert last year, and they did a stunning Salve Regina by Salazar. I was talking to their music director afterwards, and he mentioned that Chanticleer has exclusive performance rights to a large body of works by Salazar and contemporaries (I forget the exact context - something about a musicologist who went to a cathedral and photographed the manuscripts, then signed his editions over to Chanticleer for two years). Anyway, I got two things out of that conversation - first, you might contact Chanticleer to see when their rights run out (so the scores become publicly available) and whether there will be a recording dedicated to the repertoire in the near future, which was my understanding. Second, it seems like there is a lot of this repertoire just sitting in church libraries still - if one guy with a camera constitutes a major research project into undiscovered scores. The same holds true with the organ repertoire and instruments - the golden age of Mexican polyphony and organ music, complete with cathedral choir schools, is practically unmentioned these days (maybe it's not PC to mention). I would be very interested to see what you turn up in your research.
  • Daniel Bennett PageDaniel Bennett Page
    Posts: 835
    I've programmed the Lopez Capillas 'Dic nobis Maria' at Easter over a number of years. It's on the Westminster Cathedral recording of Mexican Baroque polyphony.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    The more I delve into all of this, the more exciting it seems to be.

    Maybe we need to have a kickstarter to send Ben Yanke to various Cathedrals in Mexico and further south to scan things.
    Thanked by 3Adam Wood irishtenor Ben
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,192
    I performed Padilla's SATB.SATB "Exsultate iusti" a few times with Zephyrus back in the late 1990s. My edition of this work is available here at CPDL in the original key (F major) and in transposition (D major).

    Chanticleer has three other CDs featuring much Mexican music:

    Mexican Baroque
    Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe, 1764
    Mission Road

    The following Renaissance/Baroque Mexican composers have at least one work each available at CPDL:

    Juan Gutierrez de Padilla (1590-1664)

    Francisco Lopez Capillas (1608-1674)

    Juan García de Zéspedes (1619-1678)

    (Sor) Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695)

    Matheo de Dallo y Lana (c.1650-1705)

    Antonio de Salazar (c.1650-1715)

    Juan Matias de Rivera (16??-17??)
    N.b. the Missa quarti toni, attributed (probably wrongly) to Gregorio Allegri is quite possibly and more likely by Matias de Rivera.

    Ignacio de Jerusalem (1707?-1769)
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    This is all fascinating... I'm hoping next fall to do an entire month dedicated to Mexican polyphony at the Cathedral. The more I read and look at scores the more excited I get.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Aristotle Esguerra
  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    So different than what I would anticipate if I heard there was a Hispanic Mass at the Cathedral.

    PC disclaimer: (It's not racist, calm the frock down. I'd expect broadway garbage if you told me there was a month dedicated to American composers. Its a reflection on the church's allowance of dumb music from all cultures, not a bash on the culture itself.)
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    We have Spanish Masses twice every Sunday with a good amount of chant in Spanish (the Ordinary is always chant - either Spanish or Latin). We do not yet have a choir to sing polyphony at the Spanish Masses.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    Me gusta polifonía
  • henry
    Posts: 244
    What about Mexican polyphony in Spanish?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    I wouldn't expect there to be much. I'm assuming that the Latin language was preserved in Roman-rite Masses in Mexico until the 1960s.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    MJM, I don't know where he is, but perhaps you could "Google" Juan Pedro Gaffney. I do not know of any other single musician more informed about colonial musical interaction than he.

    As a secondary source, the esteemed SAVAE (San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble) are musicologically impeccable.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    Here's their interpretation of the "Our Father" from the album "Ancient Echoes":
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE4MIHdXlGE
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    Henry, Chonak, don't forget the villancicos. They were meant for Vespers rather than the Mass, but there's no reason they couldn't be used in a Spanish Mass now.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    The Cathedral of SS Simon and Jude in Phoenix will feature Mexican polyphony during all of their Triduum lituriges. If you're in the Arizona area and have an interest in the polyphony of Mexico, do join us.

    For more information:
    https://www.facebook.com/cathedralchoirphoenix

    Feel free to share our post on Facebook (March 12) about the polyphony of Mexico with your friends in the Southwest.
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • TCJ
    Posts: 986
    I didn't see Manuel de Sumaya (Zumaya?) listed. I have only heard two pieces of his, but I really like "Angelicas Milicias".
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • donr
    Posts: 971
    Mathew, I am looking for some Mexican Polyphony. Please provide a list of what you are doing, or where I can find some.

    Thanks
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    Holy Thursday
    Padilla - Tristis est anima mea (CPDL)

    Good Friday
    Padilla - Stabat Mater (CPDL)

    Easter Vigil / Easter
    Capillas - Alleluia, dic nobis Maria (CPDL)
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen janetgorbitz
  • donr
    Posts: 971
    Thank you
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