Experience the Musical Time Capsule of Christmas Past

Discovering the Hidden Treasures

Thanks to the efforts of Paul Gustav Feller-Simmons, a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University, a collection of old carols has been unearthed. These carols, some written and performed in a convent in Puebla, Mexico, between 1630 and 1740, and others discovered in a chest in the Guatemalan highlands dating between 1562 and 1635, offer a glimpse into the musical past. The Newberry Consort, with its expertise in playing old music using period instruments and techniques, will present a beautiful approximation of what one might have heard 400 years ago.

The group behind this project, the Newberry Consort, hosts its annual "Latin American Christmas" concerts from December 13 to 15, culminating in a matinee at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. This weekend's performances will mark the first time these carols have been performed since their rediscovery in the 1960s. Feller-Simmons is also publishing an anthology of this music and more in 2025, making it accessible to a wider audience.

The Story behind the Music

The journey of reintroducing these carols to the present-day holiday canon is a fascinating one. It began when Feller-Simmons was an undergraduate student in Chile, assisting musicologist Alejandro Vera in the recovery of a rare manuscript. In recent years, he has worked with Cesar Favila on a project documenting the centuries-old music of Latin American nuns. His research was a perfect fit for the Newberry Consort, which wanted to expand its annual "Mexican Christmas" concerts to include more historical sounds of Latin America.

Just like travel in those days, musical fads took time to cross the Atlantic. The music of colonial Spain was often old-fashioned compared to what was happening in mainland Europe. Even the earliest pieces on the Newberry Consort's program contain music more akin to that composed a century earlier. Feller-Simmons' work in decoding the manuscripts has provided valuable insights into the creation and context of these carols.

Unraveling the Manuscripts

Some of the manuscripts contain Old Spanish inscriptions with unusual misspellings and syntax errors, suggesting that their copyists were non-native speakers, likely Indigenous Americans. Other songs are written in Mayan languages, adding to the cultural diversity of the collection. The signatures in the Puebla manuscripts tell us about the women who copied down the music and the context in which it was created.

Deciphering these manuscripts is a challenging task. Worms have nibbled through some of the sheets, and the notation style and clefs used are archaic. Researchers had to piece together the individual parts to reconstruct how the works might have sounded. Despite the difficulties, Feller-Simmons and others have made remarkable progress in bringing these carols back to life.

Instrumentation and Context

As is typical for the time period, instrumentation is not specified in the manuscripts. The Newberry Consort has made educated guesses about the instruments that might have been used and how they functioned in the ensemble. Malamut has scoured primary sources for clues, discovering that plucked instruments like harps, guitars, and lutes or theorbo may have been used. There is even evidence of a bajón, an early version of the bassoon.

The context of the convent music is also emphasized. Newberry Consort director Malamut, a trombonist, will have only female musicians play the Puebla pieces to better represent the convent setting. Most of the program, however, is co-ed. Understanding the instrumentation and context is crucial in presenting these carols as authentically as possible.

The Colonial History and Unanswered Questions

The Guatemalan manuscripts ended up in Bloomington, Ind., through a complex colonial history. Catholic missionaries brought some old chests with 50 books of music, but most were sold at auction. Only 19 of the 50 books survive, and 17 are at Indiana University. Despite the detective work of Malamut, Feller-Simmons, and others, some basic questions remain unanswered, such as when and why these pieces were performed and how much Indigenous Mayan instruments and traditions mingled with Western ones.

What you'll hear this weekend is a beautiful approximation of what one might have heard 400 years ago. For performer-scholars like Malamut, the uncertainty is part of the craft. As Hannah Edgar, a Chicago-based culture writer, notes, "In a certain sense, we have to respect that we're never really going to know."