Friends of Bolivia are proud to present:
A Bolivian Baroque Christmas: Early Music from the New World
at the Church of the Immaculate Conception,
Farm Street entrance – London, W1K 3AH
(Fri 17 December 2021 at 7.30PM)
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In Latin America, movement and dance is at the centre of the celebration of Christmas. It is midsummer there, and everyone is in the streets, singing, dancing, playing instruments for the entire twelve days of Christmas. The different ethnicities intermingle, and the music combines indigenous native traditions with the influences of those who came from elsewhere, Africa and Europe. We present polyphonic and solo works for one to four voices, accompanied by theorbo and guitar. Most are in Spanish, but some are in traditional local languages such as Quechua and Guarani.
The Baroque period (1600-1750) was a time of remarkable musical creativity in Latin America. In the time of the Spanish Empire, music production reached a new height, with many highly trained musicians migrating from Europe to South America. The riches from the silver mines of Potosi funded an explosion of art and culture of all kinds, much concentrated in the courts and cathedrals, but also spilling out and mingling with indigenous and folk cultures. The colonisers and missionaries (including Jesuits) found a highly musical and receptive indigenous population, so much so that music became a primary tool of Christian evangelization, with much music in the missions written for, and also by, indigenous people to perform. This process was not only one-way: non-European influences found their way into the music that was written, and some of those influences went back to Europe.
Concert held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Farm Street by kind permission of Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest.
EL PARNASO HYSPANO (Early Music Ensemble)
Singers:
Kate Smith (soprano),
Verónica Chacón (alto),
Rafael Montero (tenor and founder),
John Sloboda (bass),
Toby Carr (theorbo/guitar),
Robert Gutierrez (percussion and wind).
EL PARNASO HYSPANO is an international chamber group of singers and instrumentalists dedicated to the performance of early Hispanic music, ranging from the medieval to the baroque and early classical.
