Indiana Historical Society
450 W Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202

September 12, 2021 | 4:00PM

The inspiration for this concert developed from my research on fiddlers and social mobility in 18th-century Mexico City, which was presented in the form of a lecture recital at Case Western Reserve University, with subsequent presentations at Boston University and virtually for Early Music America. As I was delving into the musical world of the Spanish colonies, I began to notice that some musicians appeared in both sacred and secular contexts, in musical records of the church, as well as in association with theatre and aristocratic private events. I decided to take a closer look at these figures, chiefly, the violinists, and how they navigated the different social strata as professional musicians by surveying their activity at the Mexico City Cathedral and in the service of the Criollo Nobility. For this concert, I have chosen to concentrate on the latter, specifically on the Marquis of Jaral, a particularly fascinating figure.

Born in 1716 in Mexico City of Spanish descent, Miguel de Berrio y Zaldívar fashioned himself as arguably the most important music patron of his time in the viceroyalty of New Spain. An amateur violinist himself, the Marquis owned 37 musical instruments and over 1,300 music works, which he frequently featured in private serenades (or “saraos”) at his palace, for his own enjoyment and for the enlightened upper classes. Written document of his posessions sheds light on what composers and works were heard at the palace. Among them are canonic Italian names like Vivaldi and Corelli, along with the (then) living chapel masters at the Cathedrals in Mexico City and Durango, Ignacio Jerusalem and Santiago Billoni. Taking into account also what instruments the Marquis owned, the idea was born to put on a concert to illuminate one aspect of music making in the colonial Americas.

Guillermo Salas-Suárez
Curator & Violin