In duo with Lincoln Almada

Evangelina and the Paraguayan harpist Lincoln Almada invite us to discover traditional Latin American music going back to the time of Conquistadores. At the beginning of the XVII century the Jesuits introduced the harp and the guitar in Latin America from Europe to teach music in order to play sacred music as a tool for evangelism.

In 1604, the Jesuit province of Perú was divided and the new Jesuit province of "Paraguay" or "Paraquaria" was formed, including part of actual eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, north-western Argentina and initially, Chile as well. Jesuits initiated the "Indians" in the art of music, both sacred and profane. Fathers Antón Sepp, Domenico Zipoli, Martin Schmid and Luis Berger, after years of work with the inhabitants of the "reducciones", arrived at such a high musical level that Pope Benedict XIV, in his encyclical dated February 19, 1749, stated that "there is almost no difference between the masses and vespers sung by the devotees in the province of Paraguay and ours."

The Jesuits enjoyed great economic power and absolute independence from civic power. In 1767, the Society of Jesus was expelled from the New World per Charles III. The Jesuits had to move but the music remained, not just in the original province but in all the continet, both inside and outside the church. Their instruments were combine with the already existing rhythms and musical traditions and those brought from so many of the other cultures that were present: native, European and African.

From that moment on, the harp become one of the leading players in the formation of what is known today as traditional music.

 

 

Un solo camino

Codex Saldivar (Mexico ca.1700)
Grabe, Allegro, Zarambeques,
Marizapalos, Fandango,
Canario

Tradizionale del Venezuela
Valsecito para Elena
Tradizionale Paraguay
Isla Sac

Los Andes
Rapsodia andina

Tradizionale del Paraguay
Carreta Ivy, Gracias a la vida,
Pajaro Campana

Evangelina Mascardi - baroque guitar
Lincoln Almada - harp and percussions
Gabriel Aguilera (guitar), Montefiascone, 2016
Augustin Zanabria (harp), Asunción, 1976