Il villancico barocco in Spagna e nelle colonie dell’America Latina

Lo splendente stile armonico-contrappuntistico di Manuel de Sumaya

Abstract

Manuel de Sumaya (c1679–1755) was the most important early-18th-century chapel master active in the Spanish colonies. His stature has been recognized for two centuries, yet only in recent decades has extensive research been carried out on his life and works. Sumaya is mostly known for his villancicos, and the first part of this essay deals with this genre in Spain and Latin America—its cultural context, the colonial Church and its shaping after the Spanish model, the origins of the villancico, its 16th- and 17th-century development, and the early-18th-century changes introduced in Spain under the Bourbons. The second part introduces Sumaya’s training, production, and style to Italian readers, highlighting some open issues in his biography and stylistic placement. An analysis follows of four villancicos, selected to discuss as many problematic topics, namely, Sumaya’s education and relationship with his teacher, Antonio de Salazar; the 1715 competition for the chapel master position in Mexico City; his harmonic-contrapuntal writing in a strictly vocal villancico; and the importance and role of instruments in shaping his villancicos and as elements of modernity.

https://www.lim.it/it/rivista-di-analisi-e-teoria-musicale/6864-2024-2-9788855432559.html