SAVAE - San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble
Christopher Moroney, artistic director

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Kathy Mayer - soprano, ayacaxtli gourd shaker, organ, soprano recorder
Tanya Moczygemba - alto, ayacaxtli gourd shaker, bass drum, hand percussion
Christopher Moroney - baritone, bass drum, bells, djembe, harp, maracas, rainstick, teponaztli
Covita Moroney - alto, bass drum, bells, guitar, maracas, tambourine, teponaztli
Jody Noblett - tenor, bells, huehuetl drum, maracas, soprano recorder, wooden rattle
Lee P'Pool - tenor, ayacaxtli gourd shaker, bells, cabasa, djembe, huehuetl drum, maracas, tambourine
Sonya Yamin - soprano, ayacaxtli gourd shaker, coyolli jingles, guiro, hand percussion

Recording session producer - Angela Mariani - Executive Producer - World Library Publications
Recorded and mixed by Joe Treviño at Blue Cat Studio in San Antonio, TX
Mastered by John McCortney and Ron Rendek at AirWave Studios in Park Ridge, IL
Cover photo and design © 2005, Christopher Moroney

© 2005 World Library Publications. It is against the law to duplicate, share electronically, or broadcast this sound recording or any portion thereof without prior permissin of the copyright holder.

Performance Notes

The majority of the pieces on La Noche Buena come from cathedral archives, which were transcribed from original manuscripts by Sheila Raney Baird and Robert Stevenson. The music was written by indigenous composers as well as Spanish and Portuguese chapelmasters who held posts in New Spain during the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries.

SAVAE's use of Mesoamerican 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), chicahuatzli (rattle or rain stick), and ayacaxtli (a variety of rattles and shakers). European instruments such as the recorder, tambourine, and guitar as well as traditional West African drums and rattles are also used. The rhythmic accompaniments and drumming patterns are adapted from syllabic drumming patterns found in the codex Cantares Mexicanos, compiled in the sixteenth-century by Aztec musicians and historians, and traditional African drum rhythms.

La Noche Buena
Christmas Music of Colonial Latin America

1. Hoy es Día de Placer - Tomás Pascual, c. 1595-1635, Huehuetenango, Guatemala Arr. by Jody Noblett © 2005, WLP - Note: Pascual was a Mayan composer trained by a Spanish chapelmaster. Original text in Spanish, English translation: Today is the day to rejoice and to sing. Come, everyone! Come, every-one, and dance! We rejoice this day with great pleasure. Therefore, in Him we have mysteries of such great joy.

2. Christus natus est - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Jody Noblett © 2005, WLP - Note: Fernandes was a Portuguese chapelmaster appointed by Spain. Original text in Latin, English translation: Christ is born to us. Let us adore him.

3. Serenissima una noche - Fray Geronimo Gonzalez fl. c.1633, Mexico City Arr. by Covita and Christopher Moroney © 2005, WLP Original text in Spanish, English translation: A most serene night is made greater because of an infant. On a crisp day in December, made auspicious by the stars in the sky, step to the dance, and to the sun/son who is born by the grace of the true God. Today everyone confesses their faith. Step to the dance, to the sun/son who is born by the grace of the true God.

4. Hanacpachap cussicuinin - Juan Peréz Bocanegra, c. 1598-1631, Cuzco, Peru Arr. by Christopher Moroney © 1996, WLP - Note: This traditional Incan song was harmonized by Bocanegra. Original text in Quechua, English translation: For the joy of the highest realms I deeply embrace you. Our human hope is limitless, like a tree that produces endless fruit to give us life. Hear my prayer, Mother and guide of God, flower, and light. Don't forget that I wait for you to reveal your son.

5. Dame albriáia mano Anton - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Christopher Moroney © 1996, WLP - Note: This Christmas villancico is told from the perspective of African slaves. Original text in Portuguese and Spanish, English translation: Be joyful, brother Anton, that Jesus is born in Guinea! Who gave birth to him? A virgin and an old man are his parents. Let's bring him candies, let's go there! Sing it to me! He-he-he! and this is how we'll go and see. Ha-ha-ha! and this is how we'll arrive and behold him, and all the blacks will dance for him, heh-heh-heh! And all the blacks will dance for him, ha-ha-ha, and all the blacks will dance for him! His mother is like a star; already the newborn baby is like a modest and holy man. I've got my little guitar now! My merry feet are dancing already! All blacks with high spirits now raise great merriment! Soft and smooth as velvet are his tunic and hat. I want to see him first!

6. Tarara qui yo soy Anton - Juan de Padilla, 1590-1664, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Jody Noblett © 2005,WLP - Note: Padilla may have composed this villancico for African members of his choir. Original text in Spanish, English translation: Tarara, tarara, tarara, for I am Anton, black from birth. I sing the loudest and best. I am the Moor Anton, and the child that is born is the son of plain folks, who are the highest in my estimation. Tarara, tarara, tarara, for I am Anton. So, with my shaker, bells, and tamborine I am dancing to Bethlehem, Puerto Rico, and Camaroon. See all the shepherds looking for the baby God. They are running to the manger to give their adoration. The visiting cherubim appear in splendor, singing their villancicos, raising their voices in glory. The shepherds bring the child gifts on a plate, and their sheep and a little lamb, and shawls and finery. My dear Mary and Joseph, I give you my best cloak for the child whose love we all wish to gain.

7. Eso rigor e repente - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Christopher Moroney © 2000, WLP - Note: This is another example of a villancico in which the story is told by Africans. Original text in Portuguese, Spanish, and West African, English translation: That sudden hardship. Certainly here I'm not favored. But although the child was born a little white one, we all amount to brothers. We have no fear of the big white one. Come on, cousin, put on your shoes, get dressed! Play, black children, play the little drum. Sing, brothers and sisters! Dance, make noise, have fun. Sum bacasu cucumbe. Tonight we'll all be white! Oh Jesus, what laughter we have! Oh what laughter, Saint Thomas! Let's go, Guinean blacks, to the little manger by ourselves. Don't let the Angolan blacks go because they're all ugly blacks. We want the child to see only polished and handsome blacks, such as our brothers, who have fine clothes. Play a Spanish song and gaily dance. Necklaces of precious stones we bring to the little one, a mantilla and little shawl, candy and dried fruit. And we bring a small sash, gloves, shirt, a little hooded cape made of wool, and a little cane pipe for tobacco. Play fast but skillfully on the merry guitar. Play, everybody!

8. Magnificat terTii toni - Manuel de Sumaya, 1678-1756, Mexico City, Mexico Ed. by Jody Noblett © 2005, WLP - Note: Sumaya served as chapelmaster in the cathedrals at Oaxaca and Mexico City. Original text in Latin, English translation: My soul declares the greatness of God, and my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour. Because he has regarded me, his lowly handmaiden, all generations will call me blessed. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He removes the powerful from their thrones and raises up the humble. He shelters his servant Israel as a sign of his mercy. Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

9. ConcePtionem Virginis Mariae - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Christopher and Covita Moroney © 2005, WLP - Note: This motet illustrates Fernandes' command of polyphony. Original text in Latin, English translation: We celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. We adore her son, Jesus Christ.

10. Xicochi, xicochi conetzintle - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Christopher Moroney © 2005, WLP - Note: Fernandes set a Nahuatl text using traditional Tlaxcalan rhythms. Original text in Nahuatl, English translation: Gently sleep, gently sleep, holy little babe. Make no cries of distress, littlest one; the angels are here.

11. A Siolo Flasiquiyo - Juan Gutierrez de Padilla, 1590-1664, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Jody Noblett © 2005, WLP - Note: This villancico reveals a story told from the perspective of African musicians. Original text in Spanish, English translation: "Hey, Sir Francisco!" "What can I do for you, Mr. Tomás?" "Do we have all the instruments tuned to concert pitch?" "As you wish." "Tell your lady that the blacks are coming, falling down from laughter and dying to dance. Call them now, for the whites have already come. The splendid infant boy will be delighted (ha ha ha ha) by the zambamba (ha, ha, ha) with the guacambe and the bell." "Yes, Mr. Tomás, we'll play the rebec and Anton plays the tambourine. All we blacks will dance to the sound." Tumbucutu, and we play gently, lovingly, lest we wake up the baby Jesus. All the blacks from Guinea have come and we'll include Adelita and her maid, and Munglave in his helpers. And so that the whites may see we love white, we'll dress in fine-woven cotton and give the babe a gift. Tumbucutu, and we play gently, lovingly, lest we wake up the baby Jesus. Merico and Silujano saw Minguel dressed like he would cure us with the touch of his hand. Dance the canario and the villano, no more getting behind like a mule that kicks, nor a bull that says moo. Tumbucutu, and we play gently, lovingly, lest we wake up the baby Jesus. Antonio, with his shirt he brought from Puerto Rico, will come dressed as a marmoset, and Miguel dressed up like a parrot. And when he goes to adore the baby boy he'll say to him; "When you call for me, I'll make you happy." Tumbucutu, and we play gently, lovingly, lest we wake up the baby Jesus.

12. En un portalejo pobre - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Jody Noblett © 2005, WLP Original text in Spanish, English translation: In a humble manger made of rough stone, upon whose humble façade frost glistens, the earth is made into heaven, the word made flesh. And the virgin mother is in the manger. The manger has a cheap, flimsy frame, yet because of the light from the boy it appears to be made of gold and mother-of-pearl.

13. Tleycantimo choquiliya - Gaspar Fernandes, 1570-1629, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Covita Moroney © 2005, WLP Note: This is another Nahuatl text set to a melody with traditional Tlaxcalan rhythms. Original text in Nahuatl, English translation: Hush, don't cry, my firstborn, my tender one. Alleluia! Stop the crescendo of cries from the mule. Rest, little king, precious child of my life. Jesus, dear heart, don't cry, my precious. I don't know why he shows pain on such a beautiful rosy face. We will remove your pain, beautiful boy, heavenly jewel.

14. Los coflades de la estrella - Juan de Araujo, 1646-1712, Sucre, Bolivia Arr. by Covita Moroney © 2005, WLP - Note: This villancico is another example of a Christmas negrilla sung by Africans. Original text in Spanish, English translation: The fraternity of the star is going to Bethlehem to see the mother and the beautiful one in the manger. Let's run there! We hear a villancico composed by Flasico on his bagpipe. Later Blasico will sing it with Pelico, Zuanico, and Toma. And the refrain says: "Gulumbe, gulumbe, gulumba." Black orphans from Safala, let's go see who came from Angola. The mother and father, Balthazar, Melchior, and my cousin Gaspar. Let's run thereágulumbe, gulumbe, gulumba black orphans from Safala. Let's follow the star (eya!), the black court (let's go!), since the King and his treasure (everyone!) are on the road going there (there!). Blasico, Pelico, Zuanico, and Toma: Let's all go thereágulumbe, gulumbe, gulumba black orphans from Safala. Let's go, all blacks (cousins!), because our star guides us (beautiful!), since even with so many blacks (night!) much light is in the manger (say it!). Let our fraternity get going (nice!). Since the star will lead us (ours!). Led there by the King and some pulque (dance!) to make the child happy (we go!). We happily go to the manger (cousins!). And we'll be seen near the cradle (breying!) and even with so many blacks (black!) much light is in the manger (that's it!).

15. De carámbanos el día viste - Juan de Padilla, 1590-1664, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Jody Noblett © 2005, WLP - Note: This poetic text may have been penned by Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz. Original text in Spanish, English translation: He saw this day and fashioned the countryside from icicles. Petals fell from the emeralds because the frost had come. And the heavens, upon seeing the eternal, and with delicate singing, celebrate her by forming their couplets. Pearls, pearls for the bride to whom Bethlehem dedicates high honor, and likewise does our most generous God. This is the blessed boy whose majestic being was given to us tonight. Hence God came and was made into flesh.

16. Convidando está la noche - Juan Garcia de Zespedes, 1620-1678, Puebla, Mexico Arr. by Covita Moroney © 2005, WLP - Note: This is a Spanish guaracha, a musical style popular in Caribbean colonies. Original text in Spanish, English translation: How lively this night is, here with such variety of music. They sing alabanzas of praise to the newborn infant. Oh, how I long to embrace the divine master in the beautiful atmosphere of his sight. Oh, how it rains shooting stars, rays of glory, rays of fire. Oh, what glory in the manger; you see the rays shining all around. Oh, how his mother, with such expectation, perceives the light in her creation. Happily celebrating, some lovely shepherds sing the new style of juguetes for a guaracha. In this guaracha we celebrate while the baby boy is lost in dreams. Play and dance because we have fire in the ice and ice in the fire. But the Little One, all at the same time, cries and laughs what extremes. Peace to all. Let us give thanks to God because we are finished.

Translations and notes by Covita and Christopher Moroney

Musical Hybrids and Race Relations in the Americas after the Conquest: Q & A with SAVAE Artistic Director Christopher Moroney about La Noche Buena’s Repertoire

1. What was happening between Indigenous people, Africans, and Europeans at the time of these compositions?

   The tragic aspects of the Spanish Conquest and the resulting disastrous effects it had on the conquered indigenous people of the Americas and the African slaves who were used as laborers in the new colonies are fairly well known and documented. What is perhaps not as well known—or maybe not at first recognized as a positive effect—is the huge impact the Conquest had on cross-cultural relations and the creative output of the people it affected. If it can be said that anything good can come of war, it’s that the warring parties are forced to learn about one another (think how much more the average American today knows about the Arab world, the culture of the Middle East, and Islam since 9/11 and the “War on Terrorism”). Spanish missionaries found it necessary to employ indigenous and African music as an aid in the process of religious conversion and thus began writing new music that incorporated the languages, dialects, melodies and rhythms of these people. For their part, the indigenous Americans were fascinated by the new European music they were hearing, and as early as the 1530s—just a decade after the Conquest—they were singing Gregorian chants in the streets and writing polyphonic motets and masses, adding European instruments such as recorder, harp, cornet, and bassoon to their traditional native ensembles of log drums, gourd shakers, and clay ocarinas. The Africans who were laboring on sugar plantations in the Caribbean and building the colonies of Mexico and South America were combining their own music with Spanish, European, and Indigenous American forms, creating the earliest roots of Afro-Caribbean music and Jazz.

2. One of the songs on the album has some pretty disturbing and surprising lyrics. Can you comment on them?

   “Eso rigor e repente” was written by Gaspar Fernandes, a Portuguese musician employed by Spain as Chapelmaster of the cathedral in Puebla, Mexico in 1606. Fernandes had among his singers, musicians, and friends many former African slaves, and he wrote a large number of pieces bearing the designations “negro,” “negrito,” and “guineo” which use West African languages, dialects, harmonies, and rhythms that Fernandes was familiar with. “Eso rigor e repente” is one of a few songs from this period that addresses the issues of African slavery and race relations, and the only one that deals so directly with them. Even within the context of this joyful and ebullient Christmas song about Africans celebrating the birth of Jesus, the opening lines seem to allude to the cruel act of enslavement (“That sudden hardship…" – i.e. enslavement?) and clearly describe the Africans’ “non-white” status in Puebla ("Certainly, here I’m not favored…”). Not only does the text continue to point out social inequalities between whites and blacks, it goes on to describe an apparent ethnic bias that existed within the black community itself between Angolans (“ugly blacks”) and Guineans (“handsome blacks”). Whether this black-against-black prejudice originated in the African community or was somehow instigated and/or encouraged by the Spanish community for some reason requires further research. But one thing is sure—the Africans who were singing in Fernandes choir weren’t Angolans!

3. Why do some of the songs seem to be “from the perspective of Africans?” Was this an attempt by the Church to recruit them or a sign of something else?

   Songs from this period that bear the designations “negro,” “negrito,” and “guineo” (delete "probably") did, to a certain degree, serve as vehicles for the evangelization of Africans. But what is more revealing about these songs is how they were reflecting the “facts on the ground.” At this period in Mexico’s history, during the construction of the colonial cities, the African slave population was greater than the Spanish and Indigenous American populations combined. In terms of presence, the Africans were dominant. The reason for this is the indigenous population throughout the Americas was (delete "nearly") decimated by diseases brought to the New World by the Spaniards and Portuguese. The Africans, already part of a slave trade controlled by the Portuguese, had long since developed immunities to the European diseases and thus were brought to the new colonies to build the cities, mine the silver, and work the land and sugar plantations.

4. What does this repertoire say about early race relations in the Americas?

   Since this repertoire was written within a religious Spanish Catholic context it speaks mostly of the relationship between the missionaries and the Indigenous Americans and Africans. From that point of view and within that context, the music would seem to indicate a sympathetic relationship. The most dedicated of the Spanish missionaries were clearly opposed to slavery. They also saw in the indigenous people of the New World an opportunity to create a “new Eden” on earth. They truly believed they were there to help socially as well as spiritually. For the Indigenous Americans and Africans, this music must have represented a certain kind of acceptance of their own cultures and traditions, not only in the missionary composers’ attempts to use indigenous and African elements, but also in their encouragement of native composers’ own creativity.

5. Weren’t the Blacks all slaves in Mexico & Latin America at this time period? Actually, you never hear about Africans in Mexico, what happened to them?

   In theory (although not always in practice), the Spanish had a different approach to slavery than the Portuguese or the North American colonists. Enslavement was prohibited in the New World, both by Papal Law (Pope Alexander VI, 1493) and Spanish Order (Queen Isabella, 1500). When the immense need arose in the colonies for a healthy labor force, the Spanish purchased West Africans from the Portuguese slave traders. Once under Spanish authority, these Africans became indentured servants—unfree laborers—under contract to Spain for a certain amount of time, after which they could buy their freedom. However, there was a “catch” in the Papal law stating that those who did not accept Christianity or reverted to their old religions should be punished and could be enslaved. Thus, it was in the interest of the Africans to convert to Christianity if they wanted their freedom. In practice, however, this system was not always put into effect and many Africans remained slaves. Some fled to remote areas of the country as fugitives. Others rebelled or conspired to.

   The strict “intermarrying-between-races” taboo that existed in North America and parts of South America under Portuguese control evidently did not apply to Mexico, because from the time of Cortes on, intermarrying was common. This resulted in a blending of the races and a variety of social classifications based on the degree of European blood that a person had. These included peninsular Spaniards (those full-blooded Europeans born on Spanish soil), criollos (those of Spanish descent born on American soil), mestizos (those of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry), and mulattos (those of mixed black and white ancestry). In addition, Africans and indigenous Mexicans either married or had amorous liaisons. Over time, a population of mixed blood “mulattos” emerged who were (delete "either") born free or acquired their freedom.

   Today in Mexico there are only a few remaining people who are visibly of pure African descent, but the Africans in Mexico have left their cultural and genetic imprint everywhere they lived.

6. What is the codex “Cantares Mexicanos” and how does it play into your repertoire?

   The 16th century codex, “Cantares Mexicanos,” is a collection of pre-and post-Conquest Aztec songs. Ninety-one songs were compiled between 1550 and 1580 by a group of indigenous Mexican musicians and historians under the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan missionary who spent much of his career recording native customs and beliefs. Although no written music exists for any of the songs in the “Cantares,” there are drum patterns notated in the form of onomatopoeic Nahua syllables which are dispersed throughout the codex. The notation is essentially made up of four different syllables--ti, qui, to, and co--which are grouped in a variety of sequential patterns. Seven hundred fifty-eight different syllabic sequences (drumming patterns) have been counted in the “Cantares.” We use many of these drum patterns in our musical arrangements.