Música y performance como estrategias de conversión en el Virreinato del Perú

Abstract:Lettered men, who arrived to the Andean region as missionaries, soldiers, and historians, wrote abundantly about the natives' ceremonies and their remarkable ability to sing and to play musical instruments. Music and performance soon became a standard part of religious conversion as well as a means of reaffirming Spanish power at public events such as the arrival of new officials, the births and deaths of members of the royal family, and the canonization of Catholic saints. This article focuses on the use of such strategies to promote Christianity in two works. The first is the evangelization manual Symbolo Catholico Indiano (Lima 1598) written by Franciscan friar Luis Jéronimo de Oré. The canticles in particular were represented with European liturgical music and lyrics in Quechua and used as a pedagogical tool to replace the violent methods by which the Spaniards had tried to impose their Catholic faith on the natives. This mix of Andean and European elements is also a common denominator in the missional opera, San Ignacio de Loyola, composed in the 18th century in the Jesuit missions of Paraguay and taken later to the Chiquitos region of present-day Bolivia. San Ignacio narrates the exemplary lives of the founding fathers of the order, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis Xavier, centering on the protagonists' love of God, their fight against evil, and their mission to spread throughout the world the word of God. Although Symbolo and San Ignacio belong to different genres and were produced more than a century apart, both works show the effective use of performance and music in Catholic conversion to teach and delight at the same time. They also demonstrate how Franciscans and Jesuits promoted their religious orders within the colonial system, while at the same time showcasing the talents of the native inhabitants.