From Birth to Death

This chapter deals with music participation in the public fiestas, both religious and secular, and other public spectacles during the colonial period. The first section studies “Nativity celebrations,” such as Christmas, the birth of members of the royal family, and others. The analysis of two villancicos, composed for some of these occasions, shows how the genre was integrated into these festive contexts and how it interacted with other genres and styles. The second section is dedicated to different kinds of fiestas, in both the city itself and its margins, also dealing with official prohibitions to non-official music. Along with civic and religious ceremonies, this section considers the stage as a privileged space for the performance of music and dance, in spite of the absence of a public theater during most of the period studied. The final section examines music presence in burials and, in a broader sense, the relationship between music and death, showing that the former was frequently considered as a tool to reach the supernatural life.

Convents and Monasteries

This chapter studies musical life in convents and monasteries during the colonial period. Among other aspects, it shows how music represented for the nuns both a tool for entering the convent and an authentic vocation. It explores the musical links between monastic institutions, and between them and the cathedral, explaining how these frequent contacts facilitated the circulation of musicians and sacred music throughout the city. It also studies the prevailing instruments, repertoires, and musical genres, including music performed by drummers and trumpeters during the main fiestas. Finally, it also analyzes some pieces preserved in the cathedral, but linkable to religious orders, such as three lessons for the Dead by the Franciscan Cristóbal de Ajuria, some villancicos composed for the profession of nuns, and a villancico entitled “Qué hará Perote pasmado,” possibly composed for a monastery in the early 19th century. All of this contributes to situating monastic music in Santiago’s soundscape.

Musicians in Colonial Santiago

This chapter deals with musicians of Santiago in more depth, showing the importance of music in their professional and personal life. Among other aspects, it shows that these subjects frequently understood music as both a tool for social ascent and a vocation, and that music profession interacted with—but was not determined by—race, genre, familiar status, acquaintances, and other aspects of colonial life. Two of the chapter’s conclusions are that the social status of musicians was not necessarily proportional to the salary that they received, and that the music career of nuns and cathedral musicians was more similar than previously believed, since both passed many years working for free, with the goal of accumulating merits enough to enter the music chapel formally.

The Private Sphere and the Music Trade

This chapter studies the musical life of private houses in the city. Informed by historical documents (namely wills, dowries, inventories, and customs records), music scores, and treatises from the colonial period, it begins by documenting the instruments and books of music that prevailed in the domestic space and its context. Subsequently, it supplies new information about the music trade among individuals from Cádiz, Lima, and Santiago, showing how the elite took advantage of their commercial networks to foster their musical practice. It also revises the role performed by women and the familiar entourage in private musical life, as well as the prevailing genres and styles, highlighting the different ways of performing dances and songs. One of the chapter’s conclusions, indeed, is that the performance—more than the instruments and genres in themselves—acquired increasing importance in social terms during the 18th century, as the enlightened ideas gained more influence in the city.

Introduction

The Introduction posits the theoretical concepts and bibliographical context for the book. Based on testimony from Josefa Soto, a nun who played the harp in the convent of La Victoria from the late eighteenth century onwards, it states that duality was an essential trait of colonial music and culture. Also, it explains some of the similarities and differences with previous studies about music in colonial cities, and reflects on the concepts of “thick narrative” (Burke), history, and microhistory (Ginzburg), among others. It then discusses the cities of Santiago and Lima, showing that the latter was the main referent for the former and that several of Santiaguino musical practices and culture can be better understood in the light of Lima’s influence. The Introduction concludes by describing the primary sources, including both historical documents and music scores found in several archives from Chile and abroad, the limitations of this research, and the acknowledgments.

Conclusion

The Conclusion summarizes the main contents and ideas of the book. Some of these are that Santiago was musically and culturally related to other cities of the Spanish empire (particularly Lima) and that its relatively scarce resources did not hinder it from giving rise to a complex—and dual—musical life. Duality, indeed, was present in the manner of understanding music as a double-edged sword, the distance between the artistic and social prestige of musicians, the blurred limits between sacred and secular music, and even the practice of composing. The Conclusion ends by explaining in detail the most relevant continuities and changes in musical practice that took place over time.

The Cathedral of Santiago

This chapter deals with musical life in Santiago cathedral during the 16th to 18th centuries. It considers, among other topics, its organization, structure, financing, and the agency of specific people, such as bishops, prebendaries, chapelmasters, and other musicians. It subsequently explains how this information casts light on more musical issues, such as performing practice, particularly during José de Campderrós’s time. The chapter also studies the repertoire, including plainsong and intonations, Latin polyphony, and Spanish pieces (especially villancicos), showing that the relative scarcity of music sources can be related not only to the restricted budget of the institution (especially until 1700) but also to specific features proper to is musical life. Then, it relates the different kinds of music mentioned before to the liturgical context, explaining both some of its similarities and differences with other cathedrals from the New World. As in the rest of the book, this chapter combines the study of historical documents and music sources.