Customer Reviews

El Milagro de Guadalupe

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Renaissance music in the Mexican jungle? Yes indeed! Most of thest 16th century gems were written by a Nahua Indian who had converted to Catholicism and was trained by a Spanish chapel master on mission in Mexico. They will hold their own against any of the European masters of the time.

Adding to their beauty is the inclusion of traditional Aztec rhythms and instrumentation, the rhythms taken from an Aztec document from the same era, and the instrumentation recreated from contemporary paintings.

The real jewel on this recording, though, is a "magic" piece -- a hymn that was originally sung to the Mother Goddess of the Aztecs and then performed later as a tribute to the Virgin Mary. There was a text but no music. There was a rhythmic code. By overlaying the extremely complex (6+5+4) rhythm over the text, a rhyming pattern emerged in the text. By assigning pitches of the Aztec pentatonic scale to the onomotopoeic rhythmic clues, a melody was born -- an incredibly haunting melody that evokes a culture and a time long forgotten. This one piece alone is worth the price of the CD.

The San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble (SAVAE) has done a consummately professional and reverential treatment of this music which truly speaks to the heart and spirit.

This is an incredible sounding CD. This music was written over 450 years ago, but is as stirring and moving today as it was then. The San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble is true and pure with their heavenly voices. The moment I heard this on Colorado Public Radio yesterday, I knew I had to own it. Wow!

The music on this CD is in a word, ethereal. Beautiful choral music fused with Aztec instruments for a listening experience to not be forgotten nor matched in sheer beauty. The Nahuatl language is a joy to the ears, it speaks in whispers of a time long forgotten. The playing of indigenous Aztec instruments transports the listeners to another time period, a time without cars and planes, and the hectic schedules associated with modern times. Put this CD on and relax, it is hauntingly beautiful. The songs are all superb, inspiring one to transend the mundane to elevate to a higher plane. I don't know about 6+5+4 beats but I do know that the complex rhythmns astound the soul. The inspiration for this CD is La Virgen de Guadalupe and her grace must have bestowed supernatural powers on this recording because it is excellent. If you know of any devotees of La Virgen de Guadalupe this is an excellent choice to give them. The music is so different from anything you may have heard before. A revival of Aztec music, by a superb group of choral singers and musicians that is breathtaking. Put this CD on to listen to your inner sanctum, you might like what you hear, it is music for your soul. A real jewel, file this under inspiration.

I was given this CD as a gift and I must say that it is the most incredible thing I have ever heard. There is something about it's "earthyness" that attracts my friends and I to it. I hope that SAVAE is around for a long time and that they keep blessing the world with their music.

I did not know much about SAVAE or this recording until I attended the annual conference of the Hymn Society of the US and Canada, which met in San Antonio, TX this year. There, I had the wonderful experience of a workshop with several members of SAVAE, in which we sang and clapped the complex melodies and rhythms of the music, and were introduced to some of the indigenous language, as well as the various drums, stones and flutes they used for accompaniment. Later in the conference, we (some 300 of us) were treated to a sublime concert, which included some of the pieces on this recording. We also got to sight-read three pieces from their upcoming CD of Christmas music from the same era. I don't think they had ever performed before so larga and appreciative an audience. This group deserves to be discovered by lovers of Early Music everywhere!

In the album, El Milagro de Guadalupe, SAVAE clearly demonstrate their ability to cross-cultures and to unite or fuse the commonalities without difficulty. The sacred music somehow seems so much more holy in this context. The vocalists are quite talented singers and linguists. Overall a very pleasant cd and would recommend it to others.

I am very pleased with this cd. It arrived promptly, and the music and quality of cd is excellent. I love the Native instruments of the era integrated into the traditional Sacred music. I feel a new understanding of what this miracle ment to the people of that time, and presently.

The more I listen to this CD, the more I am blown over by its beauty. The rhythmic code in Teponazcuicatl (#2) is correctly 6-5-4 ... it amazes me that several friends of mine and I all heard this rhythm several different ways, and all of them are viable. The rhythm "tico toco toco tiquitiquiti quiti quito" is the most correct though. The magic is still alive in this day and age!

Several other wonderful pieces include Dixit Dominus, Ave Maria, and Magnificat - again, a must have!

This recording is simply astounding. SAVAE performs all of these pieces impeccably, from Spanish Latin to Classical Nahuatl to Latin American Spanish. There are differing styles of music throughout the CD along with predominantly speaking pieces (readings in Nahuatl). The Latin pieces are wonderful liturgical music.

The recreation of the Procession of the Drum (track 2) is amazing. It hit me powerfully as this is the music that is ascribed to being used historically in 1531. The ostinato rhythm is practically shamanic in nature. It consists of 15 beats, broken into two sets. The first set has 8 beats, which is followed by a set of 7 beats (conducted most likely as a four beat pattern followed by a three beat pattern). The emphasis is on beats 1 and 7 in the first set, and on beats 1, 4, and 6 in the second set. The flow of the two woodwinds along with the vocal lines layered on top of this is just perfect!

This recording has given me a greater appreciation of not only music history, but of the culture that produced these sounds. This is a "must have"!!

This is not what I think that
the Spaniards would wanted done,
in actual practice. This is all
sacred music all performed on
native aztec instruments, not
a single significant part for
convetional European instrument.
In most poor congregation in colonial
Latin-America, there would at least
be an organ, or a gitar, in the poorest
congregations, if an organ was out
of the question, a pair of recorders
would do just fine for church services.
There are better versions out there of
colonial Latin-American music.