Music Of Spirituality And Life

Hesperion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya under Jordi Savall provide the third disk of the Latin American baroque for consideration after earlier ones I've posted about by Ex Cathedra and the Harp Consort. There is some duplication of material on all three disks but there's also enough variety and the differing approaches make them all viable. The title of this disk is Villancicos y Danzas Criollas De La Iberia Antigua Al Nuevo Mondo 1550 - 1750. The approach taken by Hesperion XXI lies between the more strictly academic one of Ex Cathedra and the looser improvisatory and exuberant Harp Consort. There is plenty of instrumental improvisation from Savall et al too but the vocals are maybe a little closer to a classical than a folk tradition when compared with the Harp Consort. That is certainly the case with the male vocals, the female voices led by Montserrat Figueras aren't quite so uptight. I've written before about what lies behind this music, the effect of the rhythms and inflections of the indigenous music of Mexico, Bolivia and Peru on the sacred music imported from Spain and the need the church felt to entice the locals in by making the music more akin to what they were used to. Lyrically too this music moves away from the latin mass and into the vernacular. Like all releases on the Alia Vox label, the packaging and sound are luxurious.