David Saldana

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Honduras' religious demographics differ from much of Latin America, with a majority practicing Catholicism at only 38%. This, in addition to Honduras having an underdeveloped music recording industry in the early 20th century has resulted in a shortage of accessibly documented Honduran Christmas music. Classical soprano Isabel Salgado Castillo (1930-2020) relied on international travel and success to sustain her operatic singing and recording career. "Canciones Navidenas de Ayer y Hoy" (1969) touts a playlist of popular folk and contemporary Honduran villancicos, but without labeling clearly the source of each tune. Castillo sings this lesser known tune "Campanita de navidad" with quartal harmony on piano and her signature bel canto tone, as if an art song. 

This new arrangement maintains the directness of the vocal line in 2-part voices, with a toy-box sounding piano accompaniment that rings nostalgic to an American Christmas aesthetic.

Campanita de navidad

SA/TB Octavo

"La Llorona's" many iterations make it a special myth in Northern and Central American cultures. To some, la Llorona is a boogeyman, while to others, she's a mourning goddess, and yet to others, she's the reincarnation of indigenous death deities. In most of these, la Llorona is a powerful, magical being.

The song's lyrics originally center a male lover admiring this haunting siren leading him to his demise. But to some contemporary Chicanos, la Llorona represents a feminist strength, recasting her as a gritona (screaming woman) who finds strength through subverting patriarchal behavioral expectations.

I hope this iteration for SSA presents that way: admiration towards an ancient woman harnessing her power.

La Llorona

SSA Octavo

SA Octavo

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The cempasuchil (marigold) is a medicinal flower that holds special significance in Dia de los Muertos celebrations. This vibrant, aromatic flower decorates altars and embellishes ceremonies. Rumors say the cempasuchil's aroma helps the ancestors find their way back to their families. Legend tells of Xochitl, who loses her lover Huitzitzilin in war, begging the sun god, Tonatiuh, to reunite them. Tonatiuh turns Xochitl into a twenty petaled, sun colored marigold, and her lover Huitzitzilin into a hummingbird, so that the two will eternally be drawn to each other.

"Cempasuchil" weaves together a macaronic set of texts in English, Spanish, and Nahuatl to tell the tale of Xochitl and Huitzitzilin via different perspectives and to remind us that mixture of cultures keeps them alive, relevant, and rich.

Cempasuchil

SSATB Octavo

The Puerto Rican aguinaldo originated as a poetic form in the 19th and 20th centuries. "A la media noche" is one setting of well-known verses in hexasyllabic form that centers around tellings of the Catholic nativity narrative. The Journal of American Folklore published collections of these aguinaldos in their 1918 publication, where several versions of these verses can be found. This setting is a plena, a style of music described as a periodico cantado or "sung newspaper" meant as a form of communication across the working class.

"A la media noche's" melody can be found in another very popular secular aguinaldo, "Si me dan pasteles," usually sung by children as they knock door to door asking for loose change to fund their holiday celebrations. Sung recordings of this tune by Aurora Calderon can be found as far back as the 1939 in the Library of Congress's digital archives. Both of these tunes have origins in the aguinaldo jibaro song style, which the opening lines of each stanza refer to in the melody, and which cuatro puertorriqueno players (a stringed instrument similar to a guitar or ukelele) still learn to play, accompanied by plena rhythm on percussion. This arrangement of the aguinaldo utilizes onomatopoeia in the voices, as well as an Afro-Cuban clave rhythm not present in the original melody.

A la media noche

SATB Octavo

In Amazonian cultures, the baby Jesus—el niño Emanuel—is often portrayed as a curly-haired boy with tears in his eyes and a thorn in his foot. This image echoes the local legend of Q’alito, a compassionate child who, moved by empathy for a friend who had stepped on a thorn, chose to step on one himself in solidarity. During the Christmas season, it is customary for people to purchase tiny clothes and cradles for their niño Manuelitos (a diminutive form of “baby Emmanuel”). “Niño Manuelito,” a beloved Peruvian villancico (Christmas carol), is frequently sung by children throughout the region during the Christmas season.

Nino Manuelito

Unison Octavo

This SSA arrangement of Gabriel Faure's melodie "Tristesse" reimagines the public domain work as a meaningful and relevant piece for today's American treble choir community. In that spirit, a singable English poetic translation has been crafted to breathe new life into this 160-year-old composition.

Tristesse

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Campanita de navidad

La Llorona

Campanita de navidad

Cempasuchil

A la media noche

Nino Manuelito

Tristesse