This book, coordinated by Antonio García Abásolo, Professor of American History at the University of Córdoba, is the result of activities carried out within the excellence program Andalusia and Latin America: Cultural Exchanges and Transfers, sponsored by the Regional Government of Andalusia. Its aim is to incorporate colonial music into the traditional themes of Americanism. “Colonial music” is the name usually given to the music that was performed, and sometimes also composed, in cathedrals and other institutions with a music chapel, such as collegiate churches, some convents, and certain missionary centers.
This work primarily addresses music composed or performed in cathedrals and other American centers for the enhancement of liturgy and divine worship. Thus, the dissemination patterns of Andalusian cathedral music in the New World during the 16th to 18th centuries, the figures of various Sevillian musicians in Hispanic America during that era, the presence of choirmasters from the Cathedral of Córdoba in American archives, the beginnings of the Baroque villancico, the institutional projection of music from the Cathedral of Seville, the mobility of musicians and the projection of their repertoire, the collegiate church as a musical entity, and other topics form a comprehensive and innovative study that even delves into issues such as instruments, the organization of the musical sphere, the composition and delimitation of functions, and the assignment of various musical roles.
The book, published by the Publications Service of the University of Córdoba and Cajasur, also succeeds in incorporating colonial music into the traditional themes of Americanism, where it was not easily found. It fosters a meeting between Americanist historians and musicologists as a confluence of interests and mutual enrichment, broadening the human scope of relations between Andalusia and America and aspects of daily life. The quality of the specialists in charge of the different topics, along with meticulous documentation and selection of illustrations, collectively form an excellent work.
