Musical Visions of the Virgin of Guadalupe

In December 1531, barely 10 years after Cortez’s conquest of Tenochitlan (Mexico City), a remarkable event reportedly took place. On a hill named Tepeyac, a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared to a Nahua Indian named Juan Diego.

When Diego told the story to his bishop, he was greeted with disbelief. Returning to the hillside, he once again saw the vision and was suddenly surrounded by roses. Told to gather the roses into his cloak, he did so, and when his cloak was opened, it was imprinted with the image of the Virgin.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as “La Morena,” or Dark One, eventually became venerated as Mexico’s patron saint, enormously popular to Latinos around the world.

The vision also stimulated a great deal of artistic activity. The visual art--paintings, pottery, sculptures--associated with the Virgin of Guadalupe has been fairly well-known. Far less known has been the fact that in the century following Diego’s revelation a great deal of music was composed to celebrate the event.

Much of it has been gathered together in a compelling recording titled “Guadalupe: Virgen de Los Indios” by the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble on San Antonio-based Talking Taco / Iago Records. Released a few months ago, the collection became a world music mini-hit, initially appearing on the Billboard world music chart and drawing the attention of media ranging from National Public Radio to religious periodicals.

It’s not hard to understand why. The music, performed by singers who also play a variety of indigenous instruments, has a surprisingly sweet, melodic quality. Although it was created in the 16th and 17th centuries, it has none of the massed polyphony and complex counterpoint typical of European music of the period. Composed by native musicians--especially a Nahua Guatemalan chapel master named Tomas Pascual--it blends European and Aztec qualities.

The music’s discovery can be traced to the early ‘60s, when two Maryknoll priests found a collection of musical manuscripts in a village church in Santa Eulalia, Guatemala.

The manuscripts were stored in libraries at North Texas State University and the Lilly Library of Indiana until they came to the attention of the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble, a group specializing in the performance of colonial Latin music.

The performers have had to make some adaptations from the original works, extending some passages and adding instrumental supplements, but the music remains essentially true to the manuscripts.

“We’ve tried to make it as authentic as possible,” says the group’s Christopher Moroney, “because what we really wanted to do was to raise public awareness of the level of sophisticated culture that existed before the Spanish ever arrived on this continent. The Spanish did a good job of destroying the memory of that culture. But the creativity in these native composers--many of whom came from noble families, often high priests of music in Aztec culture--couldn’t be prevented from surfacing in the kind of cultural fusions that this music represents.”

Dead Sounds: Ellipsis Arts has come up with another unusual project, “Dancing With the Dead,” a CD-book examining the music associated with funeral rites in cultures around the world. There are essays about music from Christian, Jewish, Islamic (Sufi), Buddhist, Hindu and several African religious ceremonies, with appropriate musical examples.

The range of music is extraordinary. To note just a few: a Hindu devotional song, “Vaishnava Jan Tou Tene Khaiye,” which was a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi, and is as commonly used in India as “Amazing Grace” is in the U.S.; a bird song--often used at Native American funerals--from the Hualapai people of Arizona; “Sing On,” by New Orleans’ Eureka Brass Band; a funeral music piece by a kobi ensemble of panpipes and bamboo trumpets from the Nasioi people of Papua, New Guinea.

U.N. Seeks Global Music: Intercultural Niche Strategies, a world music marketing company, in association with the United Nations, is looking for world and ethnic music artists to participate in a number of special events in 1999. The programs, all scheduled to take place at the U.N. building in New York, include Take Our Daughters to Work Day (April 22), World Environment Day (June 5), International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (Aug. 9), World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) and Human Rights Day (Dec. 10). Artists interested in appearing and / or sponsoring any of the programs should contact Anita Daly or Holly Poirier at the world music company, (212) 248-5900. (e-mail: insadhp@mindspring.com).