A Short History of The Colonial Villancico
of New Spain

by Susan K.oetgen

Christmas celebrations in most of Latin America include some variant of villancicos, popular and lively songs that reflect the Christian vision imposed during the process of colonization by the Spanish and the Portuguese. Frequently performed at religious celebrations, they may also be performed less reverently by parrandas, or caroling troupes, that go from house to house, seeking food and drinks and new recruits to the holiday revelry.

The villancico was a poetic and musical form indigenous and unique to Iberia, which developed a recognizably distinct identity by the middle of the fifteenth century. It flourished between the 15th and 18th centuries, especially during the Baroque period, both in Spain and in Spanish America. The villancico was as significant a feature in the musical landscape of New Spain (modern Mexico and Guatemala) as in the Iberian peninsula, and its development in the colonies constitutes one of the first truly American musical contributions.
According to Jaime Gonzáles Quiñones, in his scholarly publication Villancicos y cantatas del siglo XVIII, the poetic villancico derives from two related sources: most anterior was the Arabic zéjel, which he describes as a poem "written entirely in vulgar Arabic [whose] first strophe was preceded by a short poem (refrain) of two lines. The last line in each strophe followed the rhyme of the refrain." From the zéjel descended a type of vernacular Spanish (and Galician-Portuguese) poetic form known as the cantiga de estribillo (or cantiga de refram). Gonzáles finds that the zéjel and the cantiga de estribillo, common in the fifteenth century, were most apparently similar in the occurrence of refrains (estribillo) and strophes (mudanza) which included a second part, turns (vuelta). The estribillo was especially important to the villancico style; Gilbert Chase, author of The Music of Spain, indicates that it was emblematic of the villancico that its "basic pattern rested on the device of the initial refrain" and that otherwise there could be found much latitude in the construction of its verse.

The musical form of the Iberian villancico of the late fifteenth century essentially concurs with its poetic form, which is to say that it repeats a musically distinct refrain at the end of every strophe. Additionally, each musical verse, or strophe (copla), is a musically recognizable entity. According to Gonzales, the "classical" villancico of the fifteenth century is composed in ternary form. It begins with the refrain (estribillo, sometimes known as the "head"), then follows with a strophe which is divided in two parts (often called the "feet"). The first part of the strophe (mudanza) has a different melody and rhyme than the refrain; the second part of the strophe (vuelta) repeats the melody and rhyme of the refrain. A repetition of the refrain concludes one cycle of the villancico, and begins the next.

Villancicos were by and large polyphonic, written for at least two voices, but frequently as many as four, often for solo singing with some variety of instrumental accompaniment. However, the counterpoint was usually quite simple; it only served to underscore the setting of the text and to create a "chordal" feel in the music. Typically, the accompaniment was a basso continuo, and/or a doubling of the vocal parts on strings. Scholar Frits Noske suggests that "the vocal part was restricted to long notes fulfilling the function of a cantus firmus above an idiomatic and freely moving part for the vihuela (an early prototype of the guitar)." Frequently soloists would sing the strophes and a chorus of mixed voices would join in for the refrains. The song writing was syllabic and tended to be fairly simple in melody, the better to accentuate and preserve the predominantly Spanish (or related vernacular) poetry of the text. The poetry was also straightforward and uncomplicated, conveying rustic and pastoral themes. In fact, the term villancico is the diminutive of villano, indicating a peasant or inhabitant of a small village in medieval Spain. Poetic and musical villancicos were thus understood to be an expression of villano life and were composed with accordingly idyllic simplicity. Therefore, any melismatic decoration was typically limited to the cadences. As for the rhythmic characteristics of the villancico, there was often a pronounced pulse, since it was also a form of dance music. Percussion was therefore a common instrumental element.

Although villancicos were always popular as secular music, they didn’t gain viability as ecclesiastical music until towards the end of the sixteenth century. But already the villancicos of the fifteenth century treated religious themes in their texts, along with amorous, pastoral, historical, or jocular themes. In the same way that the madrigal and motet gradually evolved from popular Renaissance music into sanctioned Church music, the villancico naturally assumed a religious function during the sixteenth century.

Interestingly, villancicos and other compositions by Iberian composers are found with regularity in the archives of the cathedrals in the cultural centers of New Spain. Copies of villancicos by the Spaniards Francisco Guerrero (1528 – 1599), Juan Hidalgo (1614 – 1685), and Sebastian Durón (1660 – 1716), for example, are found in the cathedrals of Mexico and Guatemala, and many other South American cities. Their presence bears witness to the phenomenon of constant cultural exchange that occurred between Spain and her colonies during these centuries. Yet it would be a mistake to presume that the villancico in New Spain did not evolve as a resolutely unique musical entity, influenced by but independent of European contact.
In the sixteenth century, the villancico in New Spain was clearly a standard form of sacred composition. Holidays, popular festivals commemorating the saints, and other religious ceremonies required the performance of new music. The illustrious chapel masters of the cathedrals of New Spain -- Gaspar Fernández (1566 – 1629), Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (1590 – 1664), José de Loaysa y Agurto (c.1625 – 1695), Antonio de Salazar (1650 – 1715), Manuel de Zumaya (d. 1755), Rafael Antonio Castellanos (d. 1791) -- wrote villancicos for every occasion, with particular emphasis on devotion to the Virgin Mary and in celebration of the Nativity. According to Juan José Escorza, author of "Villancicos de Nueva España," approximately one-third of Mexican villancicos of this era were specifically Christmas songs. But villancicos were also composed for Corpus Christi, Easter, and matins on the feast days of important saints.

That the early villancico grew from essentially popular and dramatic roots probably explains its association with religious festivals dealing with the Roman Catholic cult of saints. The poetry of villancicos, which commemorated the lives of saints and other religious figures, was often of a conversational or confessional tone, and, in performance, elicited unlimited opportunity for renewed dramatic rendition of a collective cultural heritage.

Composers of villancicos in the seventeenth century developed this dramatic element even further: They regularly set the poetry of local dialects in their music, the text of which represented characters in the various levels of colonial society. This aspect of dramatic caricature is the single most distinctive trait of the colonial villancicos of New Spain. There are hundreds of villancicos labeled negro de natividad, negrilla, guineo, or indio extant in the catalogues of Mexican and Guatemalan cathedrals. They portray and sometimes parody the character of those social groups after whom they are named. There are villancicos named for Meso-Americans, European gypsies, Roman Catholic clergy, and for the saints themselves. Villancicos called negrillas, for example, are written in rhythms understood to be the rhythms of African music; their lyrics are generally written in the creole dialect of West African slaves. Villancicos that address the clergy are especially keen in their humor and effect. The villancico is therefore one of the earliest, most popular and most dynamically distinct forms of American music.

No treatment of the colonial villancico of New Spain would be complete without mention of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (c. 1651 – 1695). Sor Juana belonged to a wealthy family, and at a very young age decided to renounce her wealth and social status to join the Hieronymite Order of nuns. She spent her time writing theological treatises which even the bishops of her time respected – although she was eventually commanded to lay down her pen, since it was judged to be inappropriate for a woman to engage in such profound scholarly work. Sor Juana continued to compose villancico poetry, and to this day is the unsurpassed poetic genius of the seventeenth century style. Several colonial composers, most notably Antonio de Salazar of Puebla and Mexico City, set her work to music. Her villancicos are typically religious, but they also reflect the tradition of portraying and parodying members of society. Most of her poems belong to complete cycles which correspond to Church holy days and celebrations of saints’ feasts. The characters of her villancicos are frequently found praising the Virgin for her good works, according to their own customary ways. Her poems can often be comical while maintaining humanity and reverence for the spirit.

The villancico was a significant development of European music, as much for its place in Iberian music and literary history as for its relevance to Latin American culture. In both its secular and religious guises, the villancico successfully transmitted elements of culture from Spain to the colonies, and then became a vehicle of cultural transformation in and of itself. The villancico of New Spain, with its lively social perspective and device of parody, was a unique genre of Baroque music, which is especially important in light of its contribution to the whole of the Latin American musical identity. As more works of colonial composers are explored and made available from the archives of the oldest parts of Latin America, one hopes that the villancico will take its deserved place among the milestones of world music and the fascinating syncretism of its evolution.