The Musical Inventory of Mexico Cathedral, 1589: a Lost Document Rediscovered
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Javier Marín López The musical inventory of Mexico Cathedral, 1589: a lost document rediscovered hortly after the conquest of Tenochtitlan from inventory is fascinating, not only for the breadth S the Aztecs in 1521, Cortés decided to establish the of repertory it contains and the degree of detail in political, religious and economic capital of vicere- which this repertory is described, but also because gal New Spain in Mexico City. In that city the first it affords a glimpse into certain aspects of the music printing press in the New World was set up in 1539 performed at a New World cathedral at the end of 3 by Juan de Pablos, an Italian printer who worked the 16th century. fn3 During my research in Mexico, I as an agent for Juan Cromberger, three provincial recently relocated this document, which had been 4 councils regulating the establishment of the Church mislaid since 1940. fn4 in New Spain (1555 – 85) were held, and the Tribunal The 1589 inventory of music books forms part of of the Inquisition (1571) was founded, as was the a bundle of papers bound in a large volume con- Royal and Pontifical University (1553) where the taining a number of different inventories drawn up viceregal intellectual élite was educated. The cathe- in the 16th and 17th centuries of ‘ the possessions, dral, constructed in 1530 on the site of the legendary silver, ornaments and other things ’ ( ‘ los bienes, Aztec temple and elevated to a metropolitan see in plata, ornamentos y otras cosas ’ ) belonging to the 1546, has long been considered to be one of the most cathedral. The inclusion of music books among important centres for the cultivation of polyphony the cathedral valuables ( ‘ tesoro ’ ) occurs frequently in the New World. Both its strategic geographical in this period. The bundle containing this inven- situation on one of the main communication routes tory is dated 1585 – 9, and includes three inventories 5 linking Europe with America, and its rich musical of interest for music in the cathedral. fn5 The first is history, especially since Steven Barwick discovered an inventory of the organs which bears witness to some polyphonic books there in the 1940s, have the existence of ‘ two main organs consisting of all 1 served to establish this idea. fn1 Research by Robert their mixtures and other stops, with none of the Stevenson and other local historians such as Jesús necessary pipes missing ’ ( ‘ dos órganos principales Estrada and Gabriel Saldívar confirmed the presence cumplidos de todas sus mixturas y composiciones, of an exceptionally vibrant musical life in the city que no les falta cañón ninguno de los necesarios ’ ). 2 right from the start of the Spanish colonial period. fn2 The second lists 27 missals, mostly post-tridentine However, little is known about the music per- or ‘ new ’ missals from the great printing-houses formed in Mexico Cathedral in the 16th century of the mid-16th century such as Plantin in Ant- since the earliest sources date only from the first werp and the Junta family in Venice. Among those quarter of the 17th century. This major gap can be liturgical books printed in Spain, eight printed by partially filled thanks to a rich and highly detailed Guillermo Foquel in Salamanca (two in 1587, two inventory of the music books and papers that were in 1588, and four more in 1589, the year in which held in the cathedral towards the end of 1589 (see the inventory was drawn up), are included, reflect- illus.1 ). In spite of the usual problems of identifica- ing the rapidity with which new editions reached tion that inevitably limit this kind of document, this the New World. Early Music, Vol. xxxvi, No. 4 © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. 575 doi:10.1093/em/can094, Advanced Access published on September 11, 2008 1 First page of the inventory of the music library of Mexico City Cathedral (1589) (by permission of the Chapter of Mexico Cathedral) 576 early music november 2008 The third of these inventories, the focus of this that time and it is clear that he was greatly involved article, lists the polyphonic books and was completed in the renewal and increase of music during his ten- on 9 December 1589; it consists of four folios and has ure, which lasted until about 1620. Taking advantage a total of 208 entries (see the Appendix). Among the of his privileged position in the cathedral hierar- eleven composers mentioned in the document are chy and of the chapter ’ s respect for him as a canon, some of the most celebrated of the 16th century; the administrator of the tithes and capitular secretary, wide range of musical genres represented reflects Hernández copied and acquired a large number of the importance of music in the metropolitan cathe- music books. This activity stemmed from at least the dral. No rubric or heading is found in the document 1570s when he composed and oversaw the printing of which presents a mix of choirbooks, partbooks, and some chant melodies for the antiphoners published 6 works copied on loose sheets ( cuadernos ) in Latin in Mexico in 1576 by Pedro de Ocharte. fn6 Curiously, and Castilian. It almost certainly follows the order not a single work listed in the inventory is attributed of the books on the shelves arranged according to to Hernández, who nevertheless surely composed size: first, the choirbooks (with printed books before much of the music. manuscripts), followed by the partbooks and the separate items in Latin and Castilian. A comparison The imported repertory: the printed collections of with other cathedral inventories of the period shows polyphony that Mexico had one of the richest collections in the The polyphonic books are conveniently identified whole of the Spanish world (see Table 1 ) . as printed ( ‘ de molde ’ ), manuscript ( ‘ de mano ’ ) and The reason for the copying of this inventory in for instrumentalists ( ‘ de ministriles ’ ). Some printed 1589 is not known since there is no evidence that books can be positively identified, since not only the the music was transferred from one custodian to composer ’ s name and main musical genre, but also another at that time. The new chapelmaster Juan the city, printer and date of the edition are given. In Hernández had been appointed in January 1586, so other cases, only a brief physical description is pro- it may have been simply as a result of the reorgani- vided so that no identification is possible. Even so, it zation of the musical material at a moment when is still possible to gain a fairly clear idea of the printed all the cathedral valuables were being inventoried. music in Latin held in 16 collections in Mexico Although the document is unsigned, it is possible Cathedral at the end of the 16th century (see Table 2 ) . that Juan Hernández, a senior member of the choir Tomás Luis de Victoria is the best represented who was appointed a singer in 1568 and who was composer, with four of his collections printed in acting chapelmaster from 1586, was involved in its Rome (Appendix, nos.1 – 4). These volumes, pub- redaction. He was responsible for the music books at lished between 1581 and 1585, contained the main gen- res of Latin-texted polyphony (Masses, Magnificats, Table 1 Analysis of the contents of the 1589 inventory antiphons, hymns, psalms and motets); they reached Mexico only a few years after publication. From an Latin polyphony analysis of other cathedral inventories of the period, it is clear that Mexico Cathedral in 1589 – when Victoria Printed choirbooks 10 had just returned from Rome to Spain — held one of Manuscript choirbooks 10 7 the largest collections of his music. fn7 Printed partbooks 28 / 6 collections Cristóbal de Morales is represented by his two Manuscript partbooks and 30 / 11 collections books of Masses (6 – 7). Although it is not possible cuadernos Separate items 24 to identify which edition was held by the cathedral, the description of the volumes as being of ‘ paper, Vernacular music large format ’ ( ‘ en papel de marca mayor ’ ) and ‘ old ’ ( ‘ viejos ’ ) suggests one of the two choirbook edi- Partbooks and cuadernos 118 / 39 collections tions produced in the 16th century, whether that of Separate items 109 Valerio and Ludovico Dorico (Rome, both volumes, Choirbooks for ministriles 3 1544; RISM m3580 and m 3582) or that of Jacques november 2008 early music 577 10 Moderne (Lyon, 1545 and 1551; m 3581 and m 3583, served in the Newberry Library in Chicago. fn10 This respectively). Morales ’ s two volumes of Masses manuscript has a lot of repertory in common with were widely disseminated in the Iberian world, as the polyphonic books of Mexico Cathedral, and it is can be seen from 16th-century inventories from therefore possible that at least one of the three anon- Spain and Spanish America from both private and ymous collections listed in the inventory (9, 10 and 8 institutional libraries. fn8 The known transmission of 22) may have included manuscript copies of settings 11 Morales ’ s books of Masses to the New World begins by Morales. fn11 in the year of his death (1553), when the two vol- Alongside Victoria and Morales, the brothers umes are listed in an inventory from Cuzco Cathe- Pedro and Francisco Guerrero are also specified in dral, and by this date they would surely already have the inventory. Pedro Guerrero is represented by a reached a much more accessible and important city printed collection of motets in four partbooks (14). such as Mexico. One or both volumes of Masses are Possibly this edition can be identified with the Liber also cited in inventories in three other cathedrals in Primus Epigramatum , which contained motets for New Spain (Guatemala, Valladolid — present-day four to six voices, but till now no extant copy has Morelia —and Puebla), and printed and manuscript been located, even though its existence is known copies of his Masses are preserved throughout the from several Italian inventories as well as that of the 13 continent (Guatemala, Puebla, Buenos Aires, La music library of King João IV of Portugal.