Hispanic Folk Music of New Mexico and the Southwest: A Self-Portrait of a People

Section V: Miscellaneous Religious

V. MISCELLANEOUS RELIGIOUS I suppose that it might be possible to find and classify a number of other types of Hispanic folk songs that have flourished or may be emerging in the American Southwest. I believe, however, that the foregoing represent all the most important types. The following are grouped together largely because there are not enough examples of each type to justify separate classification or because they are difficult to classify as part of more important groups. There are several fragmentary examples of plainsong, originally, no doubt, taught by the padres. Some of these are at least partly transformed into the folk-song idiom. Then there are several songs that are mainly related to one another in that they sermonize or exhort. There are two variants of the only religious cuando that I have collected, together with one from the collection of Ruben Cobos. The last three are sung in the musical style of the alabado, but, though one of them was labeled an alabado by the singer, I have included them here because they do not relate to the Passion of Christ and are thus excluded from my definition of the alabado. PLAINSONG VI. Santo, Santo, Santo (Holy, Holy, Holy) R29, Group of Indian Women, 1939, Francis M. Kercheville. Santo, santo, santo, Senor Dios de los ejercitos, Llenos estan los cielos y la tierra de vuestra gloria, iGloria al Padre! iGloria al Hijo! iGloria al Espiritu Santo! Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of the heavenly hosts Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory to the Father! Glory to the Son! Glory to the Holy Spirit! 717 RELIGIOUS SONG TEXTS AND MELODIES This song was dubbed from a 1939 recording and presented to the author by Francis Kercheville . V2. Kyrie from the Mass of the Angels R1368, Julian Zamora, age 83, Tome, N.Mex., 1956, Robb. Cf. R1377, R1368, and R1369 for other examples of plainsong by the same singer. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. God have mercy. Christ have mercy. God have mercy. In the practice of the church each line is sung This recording draws aside for the mothree times. The singer does not adhere to ment the curtain of time and gives us a mothis practice. mentary glimpse of a vivid past. It is sig718 MISCELLANEOUS nificant as a surviving recollection of the work of the famous priest Juan B. Ralliere, who was active in Tome, New Mexico, from 1858 to 1911. See Florence Hawley Ellis' engrossing account of the career of Father Ralliere and life in the village of Tome from 1858 for several decades, in the New Mexico Historical Review, April, 1955 (Ellis 4c, pp. 103-114). The singer, the late Julian Zamora, was a choirboy under Father Ralliere and learned what he knew of plainsong from him. Here then we hear him at the age of eighty-three singing one of the Kyries as he remembered it. Example V2 is a faithful version of the Kyrie from the Mass of the Angels as found in plainsong notation on page 37 of the Liber Usualis, edited by the Benedictines of Solesmes , Desclee and Co., Tournai, Belgium, 1934. Julian Zamora (front center), singer of Kyrie from the Mass of the Angels (V2), in Tome, New Mexico , in 1956. RELIGIOUS EXHORTATION V3. Mira, Mira, Pecador (Consider, Sinner) R1007, Tranquilo Lujan, Santa Fe, N.Mex., 1952, Reginald and William R. Fisher. Cf. Rael (p. 136). Coro Mira, mira, pecador, que si vives en pecado puedes anochecer bueno y amanecer condenado. Chorus Consider, sinner, and see That if you live in sin You can go to bed well And awake condemned. 1 Mira que es breve tu vida, y que vas muy a la posta caminando hacia la muerte; piensalo bien que te importa. Coro 1 See how short is your life, And that you are moving Rapidly toward death; Think well what it means. Chorus 2 Triste, turbado, y confuso, temeroso y aun temblando, entre batallas y penas estaras agonizando. Coro 2 Sad, perturbed, and confused, Fearful and even trembling, You will agonize Midst struggles and pains. Chorus 3 Piensalo bien que te importa, para que enmiendes tu vida. 3 Think well how it matters to you, So that you will amend your life. 719 RELIGIOUS SONG TEXTS AND MELODIES Y lo hagas cuanto antes, porque ya esta de partida. Coro And do it as soon as you can, For already death...