Renaissance Christmas Music

Today’s concert features many different pieces all written by Hispanophones and united by the Christmas theme. They were written in Spain and in the New World during the late Renaissance and early Baroque in Latin or Spanish and several were heavily influenced by regional dialects.

The first half of the concert includes six motets in Latin interspersed with sections of plainchant. The chant belongs partly to the Roman Gregorian tradition and partly to the Spanish counterpart of the Gregorian tradition—the Mozarabic chant (also known as Visigothic or Isidorian). Prior to its suppression in favor of the Roman tradition in 1085, Mozarabic chant was the chant in use in the Iberian peninsula; its use was well established by the time of the Arab invasion of 711. Unfortunately, even though a number of manuscripts containing Mozarabic chant remain, they are illegible to us today since the abolition of Mozarabic liturgy preceded the use of diastematic notation (notation which is precise with respect to pitch). Mozarabic chant was written, as all chant at the time, with a kind of neumatic notation that is only an aid to the memory of those who already knew the tune. In the late 15th century, Cardinal Francisco Ximénes de Cisneros attempted to revive the ancient Mozarabic liturgy and published a Missal (1500) and a Breviary (1502). These volumes contained new music which corresponded only in melodic contour to the original.

The three motets by Cristóbal de Morales performed in the first half of today’s concert, “Missus est Gabriel” for four male voices, “Ecce virgo concipiet” for alto, tenor, and two basses, and “Pastores, dicite” for four voices, are all representative of this composer’s individual style. Morales (born in Seville ca. 1500, died 1553) is considered the first major composer from the Iberian peninsula and the most important figure in early 16th-century Spanish music. He sang in the papal chapel in Rome from 1535 to 1545, assimilating the current Italian a cappella style. He held several positions as chapel master upon his return to Spain at the cathedrals of of Toledo and Málaga, among others. Morales’s style combines the techniques of Franco-Flemish polyphony with that of early 16th-century Italy. He prefers compact dense textures over clear articulation, and rarely interrupts the flow of polyphony with passages of chordal declamation, as can be heard in “Missus est Gabriel,” where every new phrase (except for the last—ecce ancilla Domini) has its own point of imitation. A penchant for pungent, expressive effects which create dramatic tension can also be found in his motets along with a typically Iberian fondness for a strong sense of harmonic direction (what would now be called functional harmony). Like Josquin, Morales was as deeply concerned with expressing the meaning of the text as he was with clarity, and his genius lay in his free abandonment of his own stylistic rules to that end.

Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla was a Mexican of Spanish birth (born ca. 1590, died 1664) who served as chapel master at Puebla from 1629 until his death. He was trained and influenced by Spanish attitude; thus his sacred polyphony is basically in the prima prattica except for some Baroque chromaticism, a preference for double choirs, incredibly vital rhythms, and bass lines with strong instrumental characteristics. A consummate master of polyphonic techniques, he employed all devices of counterpoint with skill and grace. The motet for double choir, “Deus in adiutorium meum intende,” written as an opening for the service of vespers, skillfully combines the homophonic antiphonal choirs known mostly from Venetian music of the Gabrielis with the polyphonic involvement of all the parts. He also composed a number of vernacular villancicos and songs to be performed in church on feast days.

“Joseph fili David,” also for two choirs, is by one of the most famous Mexican composers, Antonio de Salazar (born in Spain ca. 1650, died 1715). He was chapel master of Puebla Cathedral and later at the Mexico City Cathedral; it is unknown if he ever was at Oaxaca, though some of his music survives in manuscripts of the Oaxaca Cathedral. He was a great master of contrapuntal technique, unifying his works with recurring motives rather than with imitation. His style is unusually conservative, with subtle contrast, very few touches of word painting, and transparent textures with broad phrases and even, rhythmic flow. Like Gutiérrez de Padilla, Salazar also composed quite a few villancicos and canzonetas for feast days. His grandiose motet “Joseph fili David,” preserved in the Oaxaca Cathedral, alternates imitative sections with textually motivated moments of homophony, either 8-voice or antiphonal. The negrilla “Tarará, tarará, qui yo soy Antoniyo” for two female voices and accompaniment is one of Salazar’s lighter compositions. A negrilla is a villancico depicting the music, song and dance of native black people; it is characterized by a strongly syncopated rhythm, the frequent use of a narrative text, and a literary emulation of the accent of African slaves when speaking in Spanish (with such characteristics as the confusion between “o” and “u” and certain consonants, for example, “r” and "d"; a reversal of genders of nouns and adjectives; a lack of agreement of gender between nouns and modifiers; and a confusion of singular and plural). Such negrillas were at times sung by choirboys at Matins on saints’ days.

Today’s program includes four pieces by Francisco Guerrero: the triple-choir motet “Duo Seraphim,” and three villancicos: “Virgen Sancta,” "Hombres, victoria, victoria!" and “Niño Dios d’amor herido,” the first two for five voices, and the latter for four. The Sevillian Guerrero (1528-1599), a student of Morales, is considered one of the greatest Spanish composers of the second half of the 16th century. He worked most of his life as associate chapel master and then as chapel master at the Seville Cathedral. He traveled widely, assimilating the musical styles of other countries. His travels included the cities of Rome, Venice, Marseille, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to name a few, and he wrote a book about his journeys to the Holy Land. He succumbed to the plague which struck Seville in 1599. Guerrero was very prolific, publishing more motets than Morales or Victoria, and many masses, liturgical works, and secular songs. He was the first Spanish composer whose music was published abroad, and his works were widely performed, not only in Spain but also in Latin America for more than two centuries after his death. The lasting notoriety of Guerrero’s works is attributable to his eminently singable, diatonic lines, and his use of harmony, which anticipated 18th-century trends in terms of sense of direction and functionality. The motet “Duo Seraphim” exploits the possibilities afforded by the 12-voice texture at its best: engaging the voices in antiphonal exchanges in the Venetian manner, in different groupings, and for sheer love of sound. He also uses the voices for textual purposes in several instances. The piece begins with two sopranos singing the words "two Seraphim"; the text “there are three who give testimony in heaven” is sung by three voices; and the only parts in which Guerrero has the full three choirs singing together are the instances where the text reads “ the earth is full (plena) of his glory.” The other three Guerrero pieces heard in the second half of the program, “Virgen Sancta,” "Hombres, victoria, victoria!" and “Niño Dios d’amor herido,” are all sacred Christmas villancicos which alternate between homophonic and polyphonic sections.

The lively, bouncy guaracha that opens the second part of the concert, Juan García de Zespedes’s “Conuidando esta la noche” for 6 voices (composed in Mexico City around 1640), is the earliest known example of this purportedly Afro-Cuban dance type. Juan García (probably born at Puebla, Mexico, ca. 1619, died 1678) was a choirboy at Puebla under chapel master Gutiérrez de Padilla and eventually succeeded him in the post in 1664. He composed both sacred and secular compositions in every style from the Palestrina-like to the folkloric.

Following Guerrero’s sacred pieces is the villancico for four voices, “Dadme albricias, hijos d’Eva!,” a Castillian Christmas song published anonymously in a 1556 collection. Juan de Araujo’s “Ay andar a tocar a cantar a baylar,” another negrilla subtitled “Juguete al nacimiento del Señor” (“toy for the birth of the Lord,” i.e. a festive song) was written for two sopranos, alto, tenor, and harp accompaniment. de Araujo (Extremadura 1646-Bolivia 1712) was another Spanish born composer who resided in South America. He was the chapel master of the Lima Cathedral in Peru and then at the Cathedral of La Plata (now Sucre), Bolivia. de Araujo composed prolifically, and while he followed the traditional form of the villancico, he also searched for innovative and unusual effects, employing systemic syncopation in 6/8 time to provide unexpected rhythmic drive, and word painting. The former is especially evident in the peculiar negrilla “Los coflades de la estleya: Negritos a la Navidad,” for solo soprano and alto, four-part chorus, and basso continuo. In this piece, which depicts the eagerness of worshippers during their journey to the manger, de Araujo utilizes the dialect characteristically found in negrillas (as heard earlier in Salazar’s "Tarará, tarará, qui yo soy Antoniyo").

The program today concludes with another anonymous Castillian song—probably one of the most famous and most widely performed: the festive "Riu, riu, chiu."