Musical cross-fertilization

The book begins with an overview of the three great currents that, through their reciprocal influences, formed the crucible in which Latin American music was born: the dances and songs of Spain - which in themselves were already a blend of Celtic, Gypsy, Moorish and Sephardic civilizations - and Portugal; the native, mainly ritual, music of the Americas (using flutes, conches and percussion, but no cordophone), which was lost and to which only the chronicles of the Iberian conquerors bear witness; the music and dances of Black Africa, characterized by the importance of rhythm and the use of syncopation. Compared to pre-Columbian America, the instrumentarium of the Africans is more extensive; however, deported without their instruments, they had to rebuild them on the spot and metamorphose them through the use of other materials. Missionaries, aware of the powerful wonder of European music, used it for evangelization. Often musically gifted, the Amerindians quickly and passionately adopted polyphonic singing and learned to play European instruments with ease, and even to make their own. As early as the 16th century, Amerindians and mestizos were composing and becoming choirmasters, and African singers were improvising counterpoints to plainchant. The dances and songs of pre-Columbian civilizations were introduced into Christian festivals and reused with Christianized texts. The author takes us from the end of the 15th century to 1920, through historical events and numerous anecdotes that enrich the narrative and make attractive reading, through the many stages of progressive musical crossbreeding that lead to today's Latin American music: the sparkling flowering of the Baroque, street dances, 19th-century revolutions, the import from Europe of opera and successful dances like the polka, the appearance of the tango and the samba. As for genres that go out of fashion, they are often found frozen in the "folk" music of rural areas, where novelty is less sought-after than in urban centers.

Carmen Bernand, Genèse des musiques d'Amérique latine - passion, subversion et déraison, 560 p., € 27.00, Fayard, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-2136-3118-9