Villancicos y Danzas Criollas

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Free Music Notes for Villancicos y Danzas Criollas

Free Music Review: Creole Songs and Dances from Old Spain to the New World
Hit: 5 Stars

My translation of the album title, given above, is not exact. "Criolla" can refer to anything Latin American, and a "villancico" is first and foremost a Spanish poetic genre from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia tells us that it was "originally derived from a medieval dance lyric and associated with rustic or popular themes." Certainly the rustic and popular loom large in this lively selection of Renaissance music. Hesperion XXI and its director Jordi Savall have often sampled folk styles in their imaginative reconstitutions of early performance tradition. So most of these selections get percussion accompaniment accentuating the dance element, while strumming guitars, castanets, maracas, and more are employed discreetly but effectively. Lusty and characterful vocal contributions come courtesy of La Capella Reial de Catalunya and soprano Montserrat Figueras, who takes a couple of fine solo turns. It's all recorded in a warm, resonant church acoustic.

In his liner notes, Prof. Rui Vieira Neri introduces the Spanish part of this collection by noting a long tradition of mixing high and low culture, not to mention Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultural elements in the art and music of the Iberian peninsula. And right away we get to hear a vocal chaconne (a dance imported from the Indies "by mail" according to Lope de Vega) and a Moresca "Di Perra Mora," with strong Arabic flavor and hints of 5/2 meter.

Of the New World selections, some of the most engaging combine indigenous languages with Netherlands musical style. The solemn processional hymn "Hancpachap cussicuinin," written by a native composer in the Quechua language of Peru, was also the first example of polyphony printed in the Americas. Gaspar Fernandes (1570-1629), chapel master at the Puebla cathedral, wrote a number of villancicos that mix Castilian with Nahuatl, the Aztec tongue, including "Tleycantimo choquiliua" on this recording. It is based on a local Indian dance, as is another Christmas villancico included here, "Ay que me abraso," which moves to the beat of the Mexican guaracha.

Bantu and Yoruba phrases crop up frequently in the refrains of the African-influenced numbers, so numerous in their day that they were customarily referred to in the old manuscripts as Negro, Negrilla, or Guineo. Savall includes three such pieces on this recording; they abound in the sort of rhythmic intricacies and call-and-response effects that Europeans already associated with Africa. Among the most infectious is "Antonya, Flasiquiya, Gasipá," in which the song's characters wake up after a long night of drinking and dancing in order to go to Bethlehem to pay homage to baby Jesus, where more carousing will be called for. Each refrain ends with the words "Mucho me pesa la cabeza": "Oh, my aching head."

I wouldn't want to give the impression that this music will appeal mostly to scholars. In fact, it is simply full of human joy, tenderness, and fun, qualities that leap across the centuries at us and need no special pleading, thanks to the terrific performances on this CD. You will enjoy it.

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