279 //0.J523 MUSIC THEORY IN MEXICO FROM 17?6 TO 1866s A STUDY OF FOUR TREATISES BY NATIVE AUTHORS DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By- Carlos A. Flores, B.M., M.M. Denton, Texas August, 1986 Flores, Carlos A., Music Theory in Mexico from 1776 to 1866: A Study of Four Treatises by Native Authors. Doctor of Philosophy (Music Theory), August, 1986, 30^ PP-» 1 table, 100 musical examples, bibliography, 122 titles. This investigation traces the history and development of music theory in Mexico from the date of the first Mexican treatise available (1776) to the early second half of the nineteenth century (1866). This period of ninety years represents an era of special importance in the development of music theory in Mexico. It was during this time that the old modal system was finally abandoned in favor of the new tonal system and that Mexican authors began to pen music treatises which could be favorably compared with the imported European treatises which were the only authoritative source of instruction for serious musicians in Mexico. The four main treatises examined in this study--Juan Antonio Vargas y Guzman's Explicacion para tocar la guitarra (Veracruz, 1776), Mariano Elizaga*s Elementos de musica (Mexico, 1823), Jose Antonio Gomez* Gramatica razonada musical (Mexico, 1832), and Felipe Larios' Metodo de armonia teorico- practica (Mexico, 1866)--are of paramount importance in the history of Mexican theory because they are the major theoreti- cal works of their time and, as such, they comprise a direct lineage of theoretical development in Mexico. The study of each of these treatises is divided into two main areas: 1) "biographical information and description of the treatise, and 2) analytical study featuring the purpose of the work, analysis of concepts, musical examples, translation of important sections, and historical perspective—the author's sources of information and a comparative study with other Mexican and European treatises that discuss the same topics. The conclusions of this investigation may "be "briefly summarized as follows: the first theorist, Juan Antonio Vargas y Guzman, is regarded as the point of transition from the old modal system to the current system of tonality; Mariano Elizaga, on the other hand, enjoys the distinction of "being the first Mexican author to give full discourse on the tonal system in Mexico and to explain the current system of modes and the structure of the major and the minor scales; finally, harmonic theory in Mexico was significantly expanded "by Jose Antonio Gomez, and "brought to full development by Gomez' own disciple, Felipe Larios. Copyright by Carlos Arturo Flores 1986 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. GENERAL BACKGROUND: MUSIC ACTIVITY IN MEXICO BEFORE 1776 10 Plainchant Tradition in Mexico 10 Spanish Composers in Mexico 18 Compositional Techniques in Sixteenth-Century Mexican Polyphony: The Franco Codex 25 Spanish and other European Books Used in Mexico Prior to the Mexican Treatises 40 III. BEGINNINGS OF MEXICAN THEORY: ANTONIO VARGAS Y GUZMAN, EXPLICACION PARA TOCAR LA GUITARRA, 1776 . 4-3 Two Early Mexican Treatises Previous to the Explication 44- The Explicacion: General Description 54- Analytical Study: First Treatise 64- Vestiges of medieval theory 64 The "basic elements of music 71 Analytical Study: Second Treatise 79 Basic principles of harmony 80 Modality versus tonality 87 Intervals 97 Harmonization of the "bass line: chord progressions 99 Dissonant harmony 111 Cadences 123 Other Contemporary Mexican Treatises 127 IV. DEVELOPMENT OF MEXICAN THEORY: NINETEENTH-CENTURY TREATISES 129 Biographical Information and Description of Treatises 131 Elizaga, Elementos de Musica: Analytical Study I38 Basic elements of music 14-2 Theory of mode 14-7 Theory of harmony I56 Applied harmony I69 11 Gomez, Gramatica Razonada Musicals Analytical Study 178 The origin and nature of sounds 180 Scales 18^ Intervals 187 Theory of mode 195 Harmonic theory 205 Larios, Metodo de Armoniat Analytical Study 235 Basic elements of harmony 236 Theory of harmony 2hk Counterpoint 278 V. CONCLUSION AND FINAL EVALUATION OF WORKS ... 282 APPENDIXES A. POEM BY SOR JUANA INES DE LA CRUZ 289 B. ELIZAGA, ELEMENTOS DE MUSICA TABLE OF CONTENTS 292 C. GOMEZ, GRAMATICA RAZONADA MUSICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS 29^ D. LARIOS, METODO DE ARMONIA TABLE OF CONTENTS 295 BIBLIOGRAPHY 296 ill Chapter I INTRODUCTION From ancient times to the present, the study of music theory has commanded the attention of musicians as well as philosophers and scientists. In the course of history, much ground has been covered and modern scholars dealing with the subject have gathered enough information to formulate, in some detail, a historical survey or, as stated by one authors "to illustrate the variety of music theory through the ages, 1 particularly its changing scope and methodology." Certainly it comes as no surprise that the field of history of music theory in the western world is restricted, almost in its entirety, to European thought. It has been only in recent times that significant contributions have been made by theorists in the "New World." This apparent lack of input from American musicians is, of course, not difficult to explain. By the time the inhabitants of the American continent came in touch with the more developed culture of the "Old World" (around the first half of the sixteenth cen- tury) , European musicians were well ahead in the development of a music systems theory had reached its climax in the works of Tinctoris, Gaffurius, Aaron, Glareanus, and Zarlino; 1. Claude Palisca, "Theory," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 20 vols., ed. Stanlie Sadie (London! Macmillan, 1980), XVIII, 7^2. a strong notational system was in the process of "being established, and polyphony reigned in all its splendor. However, it did not take long after the Spanish con- querors set foot on American land for the natives to assimilate their culture. Soon they began to study music, to make copies of music "books "brought by the Spaniards, and even to produce their own compositions. Evidently, the Spanish missionaries brought copies of some of the important 2 European treatises to America. Such treatises were read by native musicians who in turn began to write their own expla- nations about music; thus the study of music theory began in the "New World." The present investigation attempts to trace the history and development of music theory in Mexico from I776, the date of the first Mexican treatise available, to the second half of the nineteenth century. As one may expect, music theory in Mexico, as well as in the rest of the "New World," has its roots in European theory. Almost immediately after their arrival on Mexican soil, the Spanish missionaries discovered that music was a very valuable medium in the catechization of the natives. For the purpose of musical 2. Antonio Vargas y Guzman, Explicacion para tocar la guitarra (Veracruz, Mexico: 1776) cites the works of Boethius (p. 38), Ornithoparchus (p. 3^)> Aaron (p. 33^, and others. Mariano Elizaga in his Elementos de musica (Mexicos Imprenta del Supremo Gobierno, 1823) makes references in the Prologue to the works of Tartini, Kircher, Lorente, Nassarre, and Eximeno. The treatises of Vargas and Elizaga will be discussed during the course of the present study. 3 instruction, European treatises (Spanish for the most part) were evidently used at first. Up to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries works by Tomas de Sancta Maria (d. 1570), Francisco de Montanos (1528-1592), Pietro Cerone (1556-1625), Pedro de Ulloa (1663-1721), Pablo Nassarre (1664-1724), Jose de Torres y Martinez Bravo (1665-1721), Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila (1717-1779). Antonio Soler (1729-1783)» Antonio Eximeno (1729-1808), and others, seem to have had wide circulation in Mexico. One also finds references to the works of Boethius, Glareanus, Aaron, Zarlino, and Rameau. However, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries native musicians began to gain recognition and the first theoretical books by local residents started to appear. References to such books are given by Mexican historians and , L\. < musicians such as Gabriel Saldivar, Miguel Galindo,v and Jesus Romero^ among others. Although some of those treatises no longer survive--at least they have not yet been located— a good number of them are available and provide enough information to enable us to trace the development of music 3- Gabriel Saldivar, Historia de la musica en Mexico (Mexico: Editorial Cultura, 193*0. 129-132. 171. 4. Ibid., 110-114, 129-141, 174-177. 5. Miguel Galindo, Nociones de historia de la musica Mexicana (Colima^ Jalisco, Mexicos Tip. de "El Dragon," 1933). 531-537. 6. Jesus Romero, Jose Mariano Elizaga (Mexico: Ediciones del Palacio de Bellas Artes, 1934), 19-28, 100, 142-146. theory in Mexico. The importance of such a study hardly needs any proof. The field of Mexican theory has up to now remained unexplored; indeed, many do not even know that it exists. Most of the major treatises are either unknown or are only very briefly described in "books or articles dealing with the history of music in Mexico. To my knowledge, no attempt has "been made to study such treatises in depth or to establish a line of development with regard to music theory in Mexico. There is good reason to believe that a strong correlation exists between this theory and the music that was composed during the same period. The Mexican treatises were written by some of the leading musicians of the time, who exercised great influence as composers, teachers, and founders of some of the most important music institutions in Mexico. Among the theoretical books written in Mexico during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, four seem to surpass all the others in content as well as in the prestige and fame of their authors.