We
are not certain that in the first decades of the XVI
century had passed America musiciand of relevance, but
many teachers should move in diverse arts and crafts. And
thanks to the singular aptitudes of the natives for the
music, this had in America from California to Tierra del
Fuego such a brilliant acceptance as clamorous.
Once
seated the first populations, it was the music one of the
elements that more contributed to their consolidation. In
the thirty reductions of Guarani, the music (at the same
time of the spiritual life), was everything
|
|
Already
in 1523 Pedro de Gante the great apostle and civilizator
of Mexico established a song and music school for
the natives. And in 1554 Juan Péres Maturano obtained the
real permission to print a music book composed by him in
Cartagena of Indies . That musical work referred to the
organ song and flat song.
Such
it was this way that speaking about Mexico, Miguel Bernal
Giménez wrote: that it is such the quantity of works and
the exquisite quantity of the musical pieces composed in
Mexico in the Hispanic time that never somebody would have
imagined similar things. Who would have thought ( the
great musicologist wonders) that it existed among us in
1723 such an original musician, of so fine and of so solid
musicality as Francisco Moratiela.
whose carols are true masterpieces?. Who would have
suspected that we possessed musicians as good as a
Mozart or a Haydn or inthe figure of Antonio Rodil,
Antonio Sarrier or Doménico Zipoli ?
Who had been able to afirm that our musicians of the 700
already worked with assurance and beauty the forms sonota,
suite or duga?
We
had never foressen so glorious past.
They are mentioning as the best musicians of the
cultural Hispanic- American life, Mariano Elizaga,
who at the age of 13 was designed organist of the
cathedral of valladolid.
Resided later on in the city of
Mexico he wrote many pieces of religious music and
melodic music.
It
was so precocious the musical development in Mexico that
already in 1604, the printing of new Spain published
pieces of native music They are the oldest
published in America.
Also in Peru musical countless pages were published,
as Ordinarium 1556 “The Manuale of 1560 , The Graduale
of 1576 and Misale of 1559.
|
Let
us see what says in their trip newspapaer the religious
Espinosa Vázquez...
In
their long trip for these lands in the XVII century, in
their step for Guatemala says: Most of the Indians are
good singers and they are expert in all the classes of
musical instruments. Fagotes, flutes, sacabuches, bassoons,
bugles and organs. All of them are manufactured with
intelligence.
In
their step for Cajamarca writes in his newpaper:
There are many indian artisans of all the
professions and singers with their choir teacher that
instructs them...and they have fagotes and many musical
instruments.
In
Lima he writes: “There are maidens that have a great
fame in the concerning thing to the music and this art has
among them a pre-eminence unquestioned
When arriving at the River Plate the same traveler writes:
I have visited a metropolitan church which has an
excellent choir with singers, children dancers and experts
in the instruments of wind, the same thing as in the other
musical instruments.
Such the panorama was, that impressed this traveller
nobleman’s retinas in its itinerary for these lands
during an early time.
Still in so remote corners of all external influence, in
the banks of the lake Titicaca the music flourished in
the lands of Perú from ends of the XVII century.
There was in fact, school of first letters directed
by Jesuits not only united shool of first letters, and
another dedicated exclusively to the music. Both conducted
by "Jesuitas"
Colombia gave to Juan de Herrera y Chumacero that was the
most remarkable musician and the music’s father in the
city of Bogotá. They are conserved of him a mass of Réquiem,
some lessons and exequias psalms, some psalms of eves to
five voices, some lamentations to four voices, an Omnes
entes to ten voices and other not few pieces (among them
some amusing carols).
From Venezuela we keep the memoris of two German
naturalists, Bredenmayer and Schültz that in their trip
in 1786 to that country they were so impressed, not only
with the hospitality of the Venezuelan town, but also for
the acquired culture level for this. Such was the splendor
reached by the Indians in the music’s art that was
common voice to listen of the colony that more it was
worth a day of function of the Indians that all those
fought bulls and comedies.
«Continuará»
|
