SAVAE:

Covita Moroney - alto, guitar, teponaztli, huilacapitzli, atecocolli, and Nahuatl readings
Lee P’Pool - tenor, huehuetl, small hand drum, and tambourine
Christopher Moroney - baritone, teponaztli, huilacapitzli, lajas, atecocolli, ayacaxtli, omichahuaztli, and Nahuatl readings
Tanya Moczygemba - alto, teponaztli, deer antlers, Native American drum, and ayacaxtli
Kathy Mayer - soprano, recorder, teponaztli, tambourine, and chayahuatzli
Jody Noblett - tenor, Native American flute, huilacapitzli, deer antlers, and huehuetl
Paula Olsen - soprano, recorder, and ayacaxtli.

Producer: Ben Tavera King
Engineer: Joe Treviño, Blue Cat Studios, San Antonio, Texas
Mastering: Jerry Tubbs, Terra Nova Digital, Austin, Texas
Cover Art & Design: Christopher Moroney

Introduction:

In 1531, ten years after the Spaniards conquered the great Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, the devout Nahua Indian Juan Diego saw a vision: a dark-haired, dark-skinned young woman surrounded by rays of resplendant light. She told him she was the mother of the true God and was there to love, help, and protect him and all those who placed their trust in her. According to sacred tradition, the apparitions took place from December 9th through the 12th, outside Tenochtitlan on the hillside of Tepeyac.

In 1649 the story was recounted in great detail in the Nican mopohua, the Aztec oral history of Guadalupe which was published in Nahuatl by Luis Laso de la Vega, the vicar of the little church at Tepeyac. It is believed the story originally came from Juan Diego himself and was first put on paper sometime between 1540 and 1580 by Don Antonio Valeriano, a Nahua Indian and learned scholar who served as Indian governor of Mexico City for more than 35 years.

The events of December, 1531, including the appearance of the Virgin’s image on Juan Diego’s cloak, or tilma, are considered miraculous by many. The Virgin had appeared to Juan Diego at the same sacred location where the Aztecs had worshipped their goddess Tonantzin, a name which means “Our Mother.” This event signalled the fusion of a new people and a new spirituality—Spanish Catholic and Native Mexican.

The symbol of the Virgin of Guadalupe was so powerful that within a few years hundreds of thousands of Native Mexicans had converted to Christianity. That, some say, was the greater miracle—el milagro de Guadalupe.

For the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble (SAVAE), El Milagro de Guadalupe has been a journey of discovery and enchantment. In the course of researching and performing music related to the Guadalupan events, a door was opened to a world of seemingly endless fascination. From the lyrical beauty of Classical Nahuatl (which can be heard in the Nican mopohua readings), to the haunting sounds of Mesoamerican wind instruments, to the hypnotic rhythms of the teponaztli and huehuetl drums, a past culture of astonishingly high attainment revealed itself.

One of the biggest surprises for us came in the reconstruction of the song “Teponazcuicatl” (Track 2) from the codex Cantares Mexicanos. The Cantares is a collection of pre- and post-Conquest Aztec songs that was compiled by a group of indigenous musicians and historians (including Valeriano) sometime between 1550 and 1580. This particular song, originally an homage to the goddess of corn (one of the many aspects of Tonantzin), is believed to have been reworked by the Aztecs to announce the miraculous apparitions at Tepeyac. Tradition says that on December 26, 1531, a triumphant procession accompanied by this song conveyed the sacred image on Juan Diego’s tilma from the Mexico City Cathedral to Tepeyac.

SAVAE’s stumbling block was that no written music exists for this or any other song in the Cantares, and no rhythmic structure or rhyming scheme is evident in the Nahuatl verses. However, a drum pattern in the form of onomatopoeic Nahua syllables (tico toco toco tiquitiquiti quiti quito) starts the song followed by the instruction: “Just thus it will come back in.” By assigning pitches from the pentatonic scale of the Aztec huilacapitzli (clay flutes) to these syllables as well as adapting the syllabic pattern to the drums, a driving melodic and rhythmic figure emerged. Not only did the words fit the melody beautifully, but each Nahuatl verse formed a set of four melodic repetitions with the words actually rhyming at the end of each repetition! It felt as if we had “decoded” part of a musical system that had been recorded for posterity by the Aztecs over 400 years ago.

The remaining music on the recording reflects the unprecedented evangelization that occurred throughout the Aztec Empire as a result of the miracle at Tepeyac. Included are chants from the Liber Usualis (brought to the New World from Europe by Spanish missionaries), a Marian motet by the Spaniard Hernando Franco (the first Chapelmaster at the Mexico City Cathedral), an homage to La Virgen by the Aztec noble Don Hernando Franco (Hernando Franco’s student), and music used in the early Catholic Mesoamerican church written by the Nahua Indian Tomás Pascual (Chapelmaster at San Juan Ixcoy in Northwestern Guatemala). On many of the pieces written by the native composers SAVAE has added Mesoamerican wind and percussion instruments, using rhythmic patterns found in the Cantares Mexicanos.

This music, now coming to light after centuries of dormancy, is a precious part of our heritage in the Americas and has given me the greatest sense of respect, admiration, and pride for the civilization that produced it.

—Christopher Moroney, Artistic Director, SAVAE

Performance notes:

The performances you hear in this recording attempt to capture the Native Mesoamerican and Colonial Spanish musical styles that began to fuse during the colonial period in Mexico. The music comes from cathedral archives in Mexico and Guatemala and has been transcribed from the original manuscripts by Sheila Raney Baird and Steven Barwick.

The plainchant is taken from the Liber Usualis, edited by the Benedictines of Solesmes. The majority of pieces were composed by Nahua and Aztec Indians who had converted to Christianity and were musically trained by Spanish missionaries.

SAVAE’s use of Mesoamerican wind and percussion instruments is based on Aztec artwork and early paintings from the first decades following the Conquest. Instruments used include the huehuetl (vertical drum), teponaztli (horizontal log drum), huilacapitzli (clay flutes), atecocolli (conch shell trumpet), deer antlers, lajas (stones), chicahuatzli (rain stick), ayacaxtli (a variety of rattles and shakers), omichahuaztli (rasp), Native American flute, European recorders, tambourine, and guitar. The rhythms used are adapted from syllabic drumming patterns found in the codex Cantares Mexicanos, compiled in the 16th century by Aztec musicians and historians.

Repertoire/translations:

1. Dios itlazo nantzine
[Classical Nahuatl] 3:40
Don Hernando Franco (Tenochtitlan/Mexico City, Mexico, c. 1522-1580)

Beloved Mother of God, Eternal Virgin, most exhalted, may you intercede at the appointed time in the realm of the dead for us and our ancestors. In heaven you are in the honored presence of your beloved offspring, Jesus Christ; because there your heart is close to your beloved child, Jesus Christ.

“Painted by the flowering ear of corn my heart comes to life.” Now the various flowers of our sustenance are scattered about, bursting into bloom in front of the divine presence of our mother, Holy Mary. Your heart is alive in your painting. And we, the lords of this land sing all together from the book of songs. In perfect harmony we dance before you. Oh Bishop, Our Father, you preach over there by the water. In the beauty of the flowers did God create you. He paints you as a song, oh Holy Mary. Oh Bishop, Our Father, you preach over there by the water. The Toltecs are painted, yes, completed are their books. Your whole heart came to be perfect. “Here, with the Toltec art, I’ll live.” The flowers of the fragrant cocoa come scattering down spreading perfume. Fragrant poymatli drizzles down. And there, I, the singer, will walk. Listen, oh listen to my song of joy! Our flowers are arisen in this place of rain.

The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The sceptre of your power the Lord shall send forth from Zion: Rule thou in the midst of your enemies. The power to rule is with you on the day of your strength, in the splendor of the holy ones; I have begotten you from the womb before the rising of the day-star. The Lord has sworn an oath, and will not repent of it: Your are a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedech. The Lord at your right hand destroys kings on the day of his wrath; He shall judge among the heathen; he shall pile up ruins and scatter skulls on many lands. He shall drink of the torrent in his way; therefore he shall lift up his head. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Our God Jesus Christ, you give us contentment and life; you give us nourishment today. He that is bread to the seraphim, divine and angelic nourishment, was a man who even at the point of death showed charity, much charity. It is divine blood and supreme food and I taste the offering on my plate; with Him there will be another life.

This is a supper full of love, this is a supper of love. When we are in this supper there is love, and it is love that He has ordained as a great glory. Since such a supper was created it has been maintained for all. This alone unites us because it includes His essence.

Make haste to help me, O Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.

“Thus it comes: the childbirth is approaching me and comes thus.” Stopping, the virgin gave birth. Without pain she gave birth, with much happiness. “And in Nazareth that day it was my womb which conceived Him who came from the heavens.” The world awaits him in Bethlehem.

The true weight and measure: God gave it for us to live in him. In you, Michael, is the end by which to measure our life. It is a weight that only comes from God and resides in the high heavens. Heaven and earth bow to him, and that Michael rules over you. For that weight and measure which causes life and and death: in you, Michael, is the end by which to measure our life.

Her garments are like the sun, so that she shines in rays of resplendance. And the stone, the outcropping of rock on which she is standing, so sparkles and glimmers with radiance like a precious green stone on a bracelet, that it appears as if the earth is shimmering in a bloom of rainbow colors. And the mesquite, the prickly pear cactus, along with the other various small grassy plants, are there adorning her; like the green plumes of the quetzal bird, like precious turquoise their coloring appears. And the trees, the thorns, the brambles; like golden precious metal they shine.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

My soul magnifies the Lord. For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for behold, henceforth all generations shall called me blessed. And his mercy is on them who fear him from generation to generation. He has deposed the mighty from their seats, and exalted the humble. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

“Do listen to me, my littlest one, honorable Juan. I truly want it, very much desire it, that here in this place there be raised an honorable temple, at this sight here I will reveal myself, here I will come down from above, here I will give myself to you, all my love and affection to you, my compassion to you, my help to you, my blanket of protection for you. Because I am your compassionate mother, in company with all people who are here throughout this land together, in company with other various and different people whom I also love, who call out to me, who seek me, who place their trust in me.”

You come to us by invitation through this holy supper full of mysteries. You come to us to be one with us. That is why God calls you to this divine supper full of peace. You who don’t have devotion to Him, come sinners! Taste the essence that comes from heaven, because there in heaven this complete grace is full of mysteries.

Hail, O Queen, Mother of mercy; our life, our sweetness, and our hope: hail! And show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb, after this our exile. O sweet Virgin Mary.

“Climb up, my littlest one, to the top of the small hill, and to the place where you first saw me, when we were together and I gave you orders. There you will see spread about a variety of flowers. Cut them, collect them, gather them together; then right away come down, and here in front of me do bring them. My littlest one, these various flowers are themselves the proof, the sign you are to carry for me to the Bishop. On my behalf you are to say that in them he should see my will, with them truly is placed my will, my desire. And you I am sending as my messenger, because you are so trustworthy. And strongly I give orders to you, only when you are in front of the Bishop will you unwrap your tilma, and in his company reveal what you are carrying.”

You established the happy earth. He gave a vision of glory to the earth. Today, that which is in accord with heaven celebrates its eternal day. The world guards the memory of the life that He gave in the earth, and there in the heavens the presence of Your glory is felt. The vision of happiness, then, exists in the memory of this earth.

And at that moment when he was opening up his white tilma in which he had wrapped the flowers, and they began to fall down, all the various Castilian flowers, then suddenly right there her image was made on it, revealing the beloved likeness of the perfect Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God, that which is so honored today, which itself is there now so reverently kept at its beloved home, its temple at Tepeyac, which has been given the honored name of Guadalupe.