Carta de Misiones. Sobre la música jesuítico-guaraní en 1651 y su investigación actual

Abstract

An undated, unsigned letter from the Guarani missions perhaps is the rarest of all surviving documents about Jesuit music. This article identifies its author and proposes a tentative date and a possible place of origino The letter confirms that, around 1650, the musical practice of the reducciones was basically Hispanic in nature, and included singers, viols, and woodwinds, but not yet the harp. The document also shows starch differences in the level of musical accomplishment among different missionary towns, and discloses the active participation of Jesuit non-musicians in the management of the Guarani groups. The article argues for the value of heuristic research, when complemented with a sound hemeneutic stance.