Awards

• Winner of Winner of the California Mission Studies Association's Edna Kimbro Award.

Overview

"Music in the California missions was a pluralistic combination of voices and instruments, of liturgy and spectacle, of styles and functions--and even of cultures--in a new blend that was non-existent before the Franciscan friars made their way to California beginning in 1769. From Serra to Sancho explores the exquisite sacred music that flourished on the West Coast of the United States when it was under Spanish and Mexican rule, delving into the historical, cultural, biographical, and stylistic aspects of California mission music during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Author Craig H. Russell examines how mellifluous plainchant, reverent hymns, spunky folkloric ditties, ""classical"" music in the style of Haydn, and even Native American drumming were interwoven into a tapestry of resonant beauty. In addition to extensive musical and cultural analysis, Russell draws upon hundreds of primary documents in California, Mexico, Madrid, Barcelona, London, and Mallorca. It is through the melding together of this information from geographically separated places that he brings the mystery of California's mission music into sharper focus. Russell's groundbreaking study sheds new light on the cultural exchange that took place in the colonial United States, as well as on the pervasive worldwide influence of Iberian music as a whole."

Full Product Details

9780199916160

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Reviews

<br> Russell is, in my estimation the leading expert on music of the Hispanic-American world, and this is a major contribution to our knowledge of a music and a period long forgotten. --American Organist<br><p><br> Craig Russell, expert and specialist in Latin American music and music of the California missions, is opening up a wealth of new repertoire from our own past that has been hitherto unavailable and is worthy of performance. This book and its many performing editions will be an invaluable addition to any choir director's library. --Joseph Jennings, Artistic Advisor, Chanticleer<p><br> Craig Russell presents us with both a remarkable scholarly study of music from the twenty-one missions and also a body of new performing editions of a number of works never before published. His twin goals of music performance utility and carefully crafted musicological scholarship are beautifully and equally realized through a totally approachable narrative loaded with vivid references to mission life, mission iconography and close readings of actual works penned in the missions. This new volume sets a 'gold standard' for research and scholarship on this fascinating epoch in American music history. -- Professor William John Summers, Dartmouth College<p><br> Craig H. Russell's transatlantic odyssey traces how a few tenacious friars transformed Iberian music pedagogy into quotidian religious practices at the Alta California missions and enthusiastically offers a springboard for performers engaged in reviving this attractive New Spanish repertoire. --Drew Edward Davies, Northwestern University<p><br> A must-read for every student of mission studies. I am convinced that Fr. Maynard Geiger would be very pleased by From Serra to Sancho as a lively realization of his call for trans-Atlantic studies and expect this to become the gold standard on the exciting subject of California Mission music. --Daniel E. Krieger, Boletin: Journal of the California Mission Studies Association

Russell is, in my estimation the leading expert on music of the Hispanic-American world, and this is a major contribution to our knowledge of a music and a period long forgotten. --American Organist Craig Russell, expert and specialist in Latin American music and music of the California missions, is opening up a wealth of new repertoire from our own past that has been hitherto unavailable and is worthy of performance. This book and its many performing editions will be an invaluable addition to any choir director's library. --Joseph Jennings, Artistic Advisor, Chanticleer Craig Russell presents us with both a remarkable scholarly study of music from the twenty-one missions and also a body of new performing editions of a number of works never before published. His twin goals of music performance utility and carefully crafted musicological scholarship are beautifully and equally realized through a totally approachable narrative loaded with vivid references to mission life, mission iconography and close readings of actual works penned in the missions. This new volume sets a 'gold standard' for research and scholarship on this fascinating epoch in American music history. -- Professor William John Summers, Dartmouth College Craig H. Russell's transatlantic odyssey traces how a few tenacious friars transformed Iberian music pedagogy into quotidian religious practices at the Alta California missions and enthusiastically offers a springboard for performers engaged in reviving this attractive New Spanish repertoire. --Drew Edward Davies, Northwestern University A must-read for every student of mission studies. I am convinced that Fr. Maynard Geiger would be very pleased by From Serra to Sancho as a lively realization of his call for trans-Atlantic studies and expect this to become the gold standard on the exciting subject of California Mission music. --Daniel E. Krieger, Boletin: Journal of the California Mission Studies Association

Author Information

Craig H. Russell, Professor in the Department of Music at California Polytechnic State University, is steeped in the music of the Hispano-American world, having published over 100 articles in the field. He collaborated with Chanticleer on four compact disks--two of which received Gramophone award nominations. His compositions have been performed worldwide, including major orchestral concerts in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House, and Disney Hall.

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