Villancicos y Danzas Criollas

Perfect Performances

Villancicos y Danzas Criollas is a homage to the cultural traditions of Iberia and Ibero-America, showing the influence of European traditions in the Americas. The Villancico (also called Chanzoneta) is a form of poetry that was adopted for use in secular songs and, in the 17th century, for Christmas carols (the modern usage of the word denotes a carol). The secular songs were gradually replaced by the Romance while the Christmas carol form became more popular. The typical lyrics of villancicos have two or three stanzas followed by a refrain. The most religious-oriented villancico of this collection is Hanacpachap Cussicuinin (from Lima) where the author asks for their prayer to be answered.

The transmission of musical culture is a favorite (and fascinating) subject for Jordi Savall and this CD includes some beautiful and rousing music. The CD begins with four selections reflecting Iberian music that sets the stage of presenting a song (usually) followed by a dance. Following this introduction we are off the Americas and music from Peru, Guatemala and Mexico.

As pointed out in the booklet, the colonial expansion that took place during the 15th and 16th centuries widen cultural connections to include Africa, Asia and the Americas, which is reflected in this collection of music. One will discover a mixing of African dance rhythms and percussion with European polyphony. This is nicely demonstrated by the first selection with its strong use of drums and bold brass playing combined with a fast-paced dance melody and mixed voices. The second work, by an anonymous composer, is quite a contrast with its more restrained and courtly rhythms played by string instruments without the percussion or brass. The Hanacpachap Cussicuinin is scored for percussion, brass and voices sounding like a solemn funeral procession and is followed by a beautifully played piece for harp and percussion from Mexico. The incomparable Montserrat Figueras sings with peerless passion and beauty, particularly in the short Tono Hidalgo of Juan Hidalgo. One could go on and on extolling the wonderful music of this CD, suffice it to say that among my collection of early music discs this one is at the top.

As with all of Jordi Savall's recordings the performance is excellent and beautifully balanced with voices and instruments receiving equal emphasis. If you do not have this disc and love early music get it without hesitation.
July 11, 2007

Mucho me pesa la cabeza

Again and again we hear "Mucho me pesa la cabeza"..... "Much it pains my head."

This music is so ephemeral... so unique.... so mind massaging..... I love reading while it softly plays in the background in the room!

The massage is quite expansive!

Not a painful massage at all, but it does get inside your head! July 1, 2007

Just Get it!

It's hard to pick out anything special on this disk... everything is top-notch. The opening 'La Chacona' is a delight and it just gets better and better and better. The second piece definitely is having some fun setting the listener up for 'something.' The ritual piece is majestic while the tone changes again with the harp solo... Hesprion XX/XXI are treasures in the ocean of music.
Gracias, Senores! August 20, 2006

This is such a great recording

This recording is so great and so
breath taking that leaves me with
only this to say: since the day it
arrived to my doorstep back in mid
December, I have listen to it daily,
not just few tracks, but the whole
CD several times a day.....One
of the best works of Savall and
Hesperion XXI..... January 10, 2006

�Creole� Songs and Dances from Old Spain to the New World

An astonishing collection of vocal polyphony and dance music, largely from Guatemala, Peru, and Mexico. Performed with flair and feeling by the preeminent Spanish early-music ensemble of our time. Not to be missed!

My translation of the album title, given above, is not exact. "Criolla" can refer to anything Latin American, and a "villancico" is first and foremost a Spanish poetic genre from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia tells us that it was "originally derived from a medieval dance lyric and associated with rustic or popular themes." Certainly the rustic and popular loom large in this lively selection of Renaissance music. Hesperion XXI and its director Jordi Savall have often sampled folk styles in their imaginative reconstitutions of early performance tradition. So most of these selections get percussion accompaniment accentuating the dance element, while strumming guitars, castanets, maracas, and more are employed discreetly but effectively. Lusty and characterful vocal contributions come courtesy of La Capella Reial de Catalunya and soprano Montserrat Figueras, who takes a couple of fine solo turns. It's all recorded in a warm, resonant church acoustic.

In his liner notes, Prof. Rui Vieira Neri introduces the Spanish part of this collection by noting a long tradition of mixing high and low culture, not to mention Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultural elements in the art and music of the Iberian peninsula. And right away we get to hear a vocal chaconne (a dance imported from the Indies "by mail" according to Lope de Vega) and a Moresca "Di Perra Mora," with strong Arabic flavor and hints of 5/2 meter.

Of the New World selections, some of the most engaging combine indigenous languages with Netherlands musical style. The solemn processional hymn "Hancpachap cussicuinin," written by a native composer in the Quechua language of Peru, was also the first example of polyphony printed in the Americas. Gaspar Fernandes (1570-1629), chapel master at the Puebla cathedral, wrote a number of villancicos that mix Castilian with Nahuatl, the Aztec tongue, including "Tleycantimo choquiliua" on this recording. It is based on a local Indian dance, as is another Christmas villancico included here, "Ay que me abraso," which moves to the beat of the Mexican guaracha.

Bantu and Yoruba phrases crop up frequently in the refrains of the African-influenced numbers, so numerous in their day that they were customarily referred to in the old manuscripts as Negro, Negrilla, or Guineo. Savall includes three such pieces on this recording; they abound in the sort of rhythmic intricacies and call-and-response effects that Europeans already associated with Africa. Among the most infectious is "Antonya, Flasiquiya, Gasipá," in which the song's characters wake up after a long night of drinking and dancing in order to go to Bethlehem to pay homage to baby Jesus, where more carousing will be called for. Each refrain ends with the words "Mucho me pesa la cabeza": "Oh, my aching head."

I wouldn't want to give the impression that this music will appeal mostly to scholars. In fact, it is simply full of human joy, tenderness, and fun, qualities that leap across the centuries at us and need no special pleading, thanks to the terrific performances on this CD. You will enjoy it. May 16, 2004

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