he region of Latin America is generally defi ned as the compilation of forty-two T independent nations from North, Cen- tral, and South America and the Caribbean. It represents an eclectic conglomerate of cultures with a common point of origin: the interaction between European colonizers, African slaves, and Native Americans following the arrival of Christopher Co- lumbus in 1492. Given time, each nation developed cultural traits that made them unique while continu- ing to share certain common traits. Music is one expression of this cultural back- ground. In the specifi c case of Latin American choral music, compositions are generally associated with festive and energetic characters, up-tempo music, and complex rhythms, often accompanied by folk or popular instruments—generally percussion and sometimes stringed instruments such as guitar, cuatro, charango, tres, vihuela, among many other variants of the Spanish Guitarrilla or the Portuguese Machete. With certainty, much of the choral repertoire from this region fi ts this description. There is also, however, a vast and signifi cant catalog of works written by Latin American composers that is unaccompanied or accompanied by piano or organ. Moreover, there is an important catalog of works for choir and orches- tral forces (large orchestras or chamber ensembles) that generally—but not always—represents a syn- cretism of western compositional techniques and regional cultural fl avors (melodies, rhythmic patterns, harmonic cadences, colors and textures, and at times folkloric instruments) from each particular country. Following is a brief exploration of this latter group of compositions written by Latin American authors for choirs and symphonic ensembles. When catalogs of works are mentioned in the following paragraphs, they refer exclusively to choral symphonic works. 22 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 57 Number 1 Choral Symphonic Music from Latin America Cristian Grases Cristian Grases Associate Professor University of Southern California [email protected] CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 57 Number 1 23 Choral Symphonic Music from Latin America Mexico and Salve Regina. His uncle, Francisco Saenz (1816–1880), Mexico City became the center of the fi rst Spanish wrote Dixit Dominus, Misa, and Miserere. In his publica- Viceroyalty in the sixteenth century. The Cathedral of tion Música y Músicos de Latinoamérica, Otto Mayer-Serra Mexico City was one of the jewels of the Viceroyalty of mentions a composer named Valentín Lafuente born in New Spain, and many of the most noteworthy compos- Guatemala in the fi rst half of the twentieth century who ers of the colonies took the post of Maestro de Capilla in wrote for choir and orchestra: Gloria Patri, Gradual de Viernes this cathedral. The three most notable composers from de Dolores, Miserere, Regina, Tota pulchra es, and two masses. Mexico City are Hernando Franco (1532–1585), Manuel de Sumaya (c.1678–1755), and Ignacio de Jerusalem y Stella (1707–1769). Most of the choral music produced The Caribbean at the time was either unaccompanied or accompanied In the Caribbean region, Cuba is the nation with the by small instrumental forces, including organ and some largest and most important choral symphonic catalog regional percussion instruments. Ignacio de Jerusalem of works. Given that Cuba remained a loyal colony to was one of the few that extensively wrote for choir and Spain for most of the nineteenth century, the collection orchestral forces. His choral symphonic works include four of works from this period is unique in Latin America lamentations, fi ve Magnifi cat, six masses, fi fteen Miserere, because it remained strongly associated with the church numerous Salmos, and his extensive eleven-movement as an institution. Of the important composers, Esteban work, Al Combate. Salas y Castro (c.1725–1803) is the earliest. He wrote over After the independence wars, nationalism became an twenty Villancicos and a work named Una Nave Mercantil. important inspiration in the music of Latin America. Laureano Fuentes Matons (1825–1898) is the composer Some of the most infl uential composers of the time in of this period with the largest output in this genre. He Mexico also wrote for choral symphonic forces. Carlos wrote ten masses, three Benedictus, Dies irae, Liberame Domine, Chávez (1899–1978) wrote shorter pieces such as Canto a Miserere, Pange lingua, Salve regina, Stabat mater, and Te Deum, la Tierra, Llamadas, La Paloma Azul, and El Sol; two ballets, among many others. The majority of Matons’s works are Los Cuatro Soles and El Fuego Nuevo; and two larger works, written for men’s choirs and orchestra. Pirámide and Tragedia de Esquillo. The notable Silvestre During the twentieth century, Cuban composers also Revueltas (1899–1940) wrote a short work called Paria; explored writing for choir and orchestra. Alejandro Gar- and Ernesto Halff ter (1905–1987) set the psalm Dominus cía Caturla (1906–1940) is perhaps the earliest composer Pastor Meus and wrote some other works such as Canticum of the century. He wrote many unaccompanied works for Elegiacum and Canticum in Memoriam PP Johannem XXII. choir and only two with orchestra: Cantata Martín Fierro Other large works by Mexican composers include Cantata and Yamba-o. In a slightly younger generation, Enrique de las Ausencias by Lan Adomian (1905–1979) and María Ubieta (b. 1934) wrote his Misa Cubana; Tania León (b. Sabina, No-Res, and Thunderous Scenes by Leonardo Balada 1943) wrote her opera Scourge of Hyacinthus; and Guido (b. 1933). López-Gavilán (b. 1944) wrote Donde Cayó mi Hermano and Victoria de la Esperanza. The other Caribbean nation that has some choral Central America symphonic works is the Dominican Republic. José María As a region, Central America has a comparatively Rodríguez (1870-1947) wrote Cantata a la Virgen de la smaller output of choral symphonic works. Guatemala Altagracia, Himno a Santa Cecilia, and his Ave Maria Stella. is the country with the largest catalog, perhaps given the A contemporary of Rodríguez, José de Jesús Ravelo preeminence of the Cathedral of Guatemala City during (1876–1951), has a more extensive catalog. He wrote two the colonial era. Of this time, Rafael Antonio Castel- Salve regina, four masses, including a Requiem mass, lanos (c.1765–1791) wrote Es la fee de Pedro and Subvite Tantum ergo, Libera me Domine, La Resurrección de Cristo, and sancti Dei. During the nineteenth century, Benedicto Saenz Las Siete Palabras. (1815–1857) wrote Misa Grande, Responso, Salmo de Difuntos, 24 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 57 Number 1 Venezuela Colombia In South America, Venezuela has one of the most Although Colombia was the center of the Viceroyalty important and infl uential catalogs of choral symphonic of New Granada, not many choral symphonic composi- works. The fi rst notable composers appear late in the tions were written by composers from this nation. The eighteenth-century Colonial Period with the creation of fi rst examples appear in the nineteenth century in the the fi rst school of composers known as Escuela de Chacao. catalogs of Julio Quevedo Arvelo (1829–1896), who wrote José Cayetano Carreño (1744–1836) was the oldest of this Te Deum, Salve Pastoral, La Dolorosa, and three Misa Solemne; important group of composers. He wrote Tristis est anima Santos Cifuentes (1870–1932) who wrote Constelaciones, Los mea and his outstanding In monte oliveti. In the catalog of Goces del Hogar, and three Kyrie; Guillermo Uribe-Holguín José Antonio Caro de Boesi (1750–1836) we fi nd Christus (1880–1971), who wrote a Requiem; and Jesús Bermúdez- factus est, Dextera Domine, Tristis est, and two works for the Silva (1884–1969), who wrote his Requiem del Silencio. In dead: Misa de Difuntos and Offi cio de Difuntos. In the second the twentieth century we fi nd choral symphonic works in half of the century, Juan Manuel Olivares (1760–1797) the catalogs of Roberto Pineda-Duque (1910–1977), who was a prolifi c composer. His most important works are wrote Misa “Festiva” and Missa Solemnis; Fabio González- Lamentations, Salve regina, and three Stabat mater; he also Zuleta (1920–2011), who wrote Te Deum por la Paz de wrote two masses for choir and orchestra. José Angel Colombia; Luis Antonio Escobar (1925–1993), who wrote Lamas (1775–1814) also has a large choral symphonic Avirama, Juramento a Bolívar, and Cánticos Colombianos; and catalog, which includes his famous Popule meus, Gloria, fi nally, Blas Emilio Atehortúa (b. 1933), who wrote Requiem Miserere, Salve regina, and his Mass in D. del Silencio. The nineteenth century was a turbulent moment for the country following the independence wars. José Angel Montero (1832–1881), however, was able to keep active as Ecuador a composer, and we fi nd two works for choir and orchestra Farther south, in the nation of Ecuador, we fi nd only in his catalog: Pater noster and Lamentación. Born toward the Claudio Aizaga’s (b. 1928) Misa Popular Ecuatoriana and end of this century, Vicente Emilio Sojo (1887–1974) was Arturo Rodas’s (b. 1954) catalog, which contains three perhaps the most infl uential musician in the nation at the works for choirs and orchestras: Introitus, Kyrie, and the time. He founded the second important school of compos- enigmatic title La. ers in Venezuela known as Escuela de Santa Capilla. He was a prolifi c composer but wrote just a few works for choir and orchestra. His most important is his Misa Cromática; he Peru also wrote Requiem, Palabras de Cristo en el Calvario, and three Peru’s current capital, Lima, was the center of the sec- additional masses. Contemporary of Sojo, Juan Bautista ond most powerful viceroyalty in the colonial period. The Plaza (1898–1965) was an important musicologist and cathedral of Lima was, and continues to be, a splendid composer. His most signifi cant composition is Popule meus, jewel of architecture.