Journal ofHistorical Research in Music Education

October 2002 XXIV: 1

The Aztec Empire and the Spanish Missions: Early Music Education in North America BEATRIZ AGUILAR DARRYL RAMSEY BARRY LUMSDEN University of North Texas

Introduction While the largest record on North American music is found in the northeastern colonies, early North American hymnody can be traced from the sixteenth century in the southwestern region of what is now the Unites States, and even farther, into what is now Mexico City. In the study of the history of music education in the United States, some researchers assume that the music ofAmerican Indians was completely neglected by British colonists, and that it did not figure in the establishment of the new musical culture. According to Abeles, Hoffer, and Klotman, early colonists brought their own traditions and ideas about music to the New World. Furthermore, the first colonists are said to have been too preoccupied with building a new country to be concerned about indigenous music. Consequently, "little of the Native American music found its way into the formal music of the early colonies," The extent to which Native-American music found its way into the music of the early colonies is a matter for further study. However, some researchers have found that native North Americans were producing music and engaging in music education long before the establishment of the British settlements."

[Harold. F. Abeles, Charles R. Hoffer, and Robert H. Klotman, Foundations of Music Education, 2d ed. (New York: Schirmer Books, 1995), 8. "See for example Ricard Roberto, La Conquista Espiritual de Mexico (The Spiritual Conquest of Mexico) (Mexico City, Mexico: Editorial Jus, 1947); Allen P.. Britton, "Music in Early American Public Education: A Historical Critique," in Basic Concepts in Music Education, ed. Nelson B. Henry (Chicago, IL: National Society for the Study of Education, Fifty-Seventh Yearbook, 1958); Julius Whitinger, "Hymnody of the Early American Indian Missions" (Ph.D. diss., Catholic University of America, 1971); and George N. Heller, "Music Education in the Valley of Mexico during the Sixteenth Century" (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1973). 62

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Most literature dealing with the history of music education in the United States proclaims New England's music education movement during the eighteenth century as the beginning of formal music education in the new nation.' However, music education, both formal and informal, was taking place in North American regions hundreds of years before the establishment of the British colonies. As Whitinger states: In assuming that the beginnings of musical culture were to be found only in the records of New England, most writers on American history. . . have overlooked the part which music played in the life of the French and Spanish Colonies .... As early as 1527 the Spaniards in Mexico were teaching music in the first school that they established in the former Aztec capital. Before there was a permanent English settlement on the Atlantic coast, instruction in singing and playing on various instruments was being given in a chain of schools which stretched from the capital of New Spain to the "great unknown North," as the conquistadors termed New Mexico.'

During pre-Hispanic times, the broadest political and geographic integration in the Western Hemisphere was found in the Aztec Empire. The Aztec government had centralist tendencies; that is, the central Aztec government dictated the political, economic, and educational policies implemented in most Aztec villages throughout the empire.'

lSee for example Michael L. Mark. Contemporary Music Education, 3d ed. (New York: Schirmer Books, 1996),3; and Michael L. Mark and Charles L. Gary, A History ofAmerican Music Education, 2d ed. (Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference, 1999),44. "Whitinger, "Hymnody of the Early American Indian Missions," 12.

'Peter P. Carrasco, "La Sociedad Mexicana antes de la Conquista" (Mexican Society before the Conquest), in Historia General de Mexico (General History of Mexico), ed. D. Cosio Villegas (Mexico City, Mexico: EI Colegio de Mexico, 1998), 205.

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The centralist approach to government did not undergo significant changes after the Spanish conquest. Itself a kingdom, Spain was accustomed to centralist and imperialistic approaches to governance. Therefore, to ease the process of what was later called the "spiritual conquest," the Spaniards took advantage of some of the similarities between the Spanish and Aztec social and political systems.' During the early years of Spanish domination, the educational processes implemented in central Mexico were put in place throughout the remainder of the country as well, including the northern region. The Catholic Church, through its missionaries, took responsibility for the education of the indigenous peoples. Among the priests who played an important role in the establishment of formal education for the indigenous, Fray Pedro de Gante has been recognized as one of the most influential educators in the Western Hemisphere. 8 Education and Music Education Among the Indigenous before the Spanish Conquest

Before the Spanish conquest, priests controlled education, which was based on a rigid religious system throughout the Aztec world." The most important Aztec schools were called Calmecac, a Nahuatl name meaning "line of houses." The Calmecacs were schools for privileged children. In the Calmecacs, upper class children learned what the Aztecs knew about religion, the arts, and science. The children of commoners, or plebeian, as they were called in what is now Mexico City, were occasionally admitted. The Calmecacs stressed religious education. However, not all Calmecac students wanted to become priests. Many of them were preparing to assume high-level positions in the army, public administration, and legal system that could be held only by Calmecac alumni. 10 "Roberto, The Spiritual Conquest ofMexico, 33. 'Carrasco, "Mexican Society before the Conquest," 287. "Ezequiel A. Chavez, Fray Pedro de Gante, 2d ed. (Mexico City, Mexico: Editorial Jus, 1962), 4. "Carrasco, "Mexican Society before the Conquest," 282. "'Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, A History ofAncient Mexico (Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Espana), trans. Fanny R. Bandelier (Nashville, TN: Baird-Ward Printing Company, 1932), 194.

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Music was one of the subjects taught at the Calmecacs. One of the first and most important chroniclers of the Spanish conquest, Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, listed the rules for the Calmecacs, rules to be observed by the schools' teachers, or ministers, who were called Tlamacazque. One rule was an obligation for the Tlamacazque to teach students all verses of the "divine songs" that were to be sung during religious services." In the Calmecacs, students learned the "divine songs" through the use of a codex." The Tlamacazque were also responsible for teaching proper behavior and for providing academic training to students. 13 Other music specialists at the Calmecacs included the Tlapizcatzin and the Orne Tochtzin. The Tlapizcatzin were priests responsible for preparing singers and dancers for religious services, and the Orne Tochtzin were leaders of musical performances." According to Guzman Bravo, some students were placed in charge of putting together choreography and musical pieces for holy celebrations. There were also instrumentalists who knew the symbolic meanings of the dance steps. These individuals were instructed in the interpretation of the ideographs, and they were adept at preserving the songs' verses and rhythms.IS In addition to schools for the wealthy, there was a public school in each neighborhood for the common Aztecs known as Tepochcalli, "the house ofthe youth.?" Plebeian children attending these schools learned neither reading nor writing; instead, they studied basic subjects and divided task subjects. For boys, divided task subjects often included

II

Ibid., 201

I~Jose Antonio Guzman Bravo and 1. A. Nava Gomez Tagle, "La Musica Mexica" (Mexica Music), in La Musica en Mexico (The Music in Mexico), ed. Julio Estrada (Mexico City, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autonorna de Mexico, 1984),93.

"Heller, "Music Education in the Valley of Mexico," 38. "Sahagun, A History ofAncient Mexico, 163. "Bravo and Tagle, "The Music in Mexico," 94. '6Ibid., 93.

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courses that taught them skills needed to become warriors or tradesmen. Boys also learned agriculture and crafts. The divided subjects for girls included household duties such as cooking and sewing. Girls were also taught to be responsible mothers and household caretakers. I? In Mexico City and surrounding cities such as Texcoco and Tacuba, buildings within the temple complex were devoted to the teaching of music and dance. These schools were called Cuicacalli, "the house of songs.''" The Mixcoatzalotla were in charge of these houses of music. They taught the novices to conserve the fire, clean the temple, and play the instruments that marked each hour." From the temples' towers the instrumentalists announced the hours and called the people to celebrations using wind and percussion instruments. According to Torquemada, each day these musicians celebrated the rising of the sun with clamor. Vigil-keepers also "watched over the nights, some ofthem in the temples and some others in some streets and roads. Their job was to wake up ministers and priests so that they attended the evening religious ceremonies,'?' According to Duran, Cuicacallis were located adjacent to the temples in every city. In these schools, students also learned to sing, dance, and play instruments. Dancing was an art integrated with music and physical exercise. These skills were so important for the Aztecs that failure in them was considered a crime."

"Josh Baylor, Tiffany Dunlap, Mike Follis, Connie Hernandez, Nicole Hillis, and Courtney Koogler, http://www.history.swt.edu/Full-Time/Faculty/DelaTeja/I310Projects /GroupAigroup.htm, 2000. "Bravo and Tagle, "The Music in Mexico," 99. l'lIbid.," 97. ~OFray

Juan de Torquemada, Monarquia Indiana (Indian Monarchy) (Mexico City, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autonorna de Mexico, 1975),227. "Fray Diego de Duran, Historia de los Indios de Nueva Espaiia (History of the Indians from New Spain) (Mexico City, Mexico: Porrua, 1967), 189.

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General teachers at the Calmecacs and Tepochcallis taught music by rote. However, it appears that the Aztecs did have a system of verse metric notation. According to Sahagun, the Aztecs wrote song verses in their books by signs. Therefore, Cuicacalli students who could read hieroglyphics learned to write song verses in their books with signs. The capacity to read these texts increased the students' repertoires. Students were taught composition also. First they wrote poems based on historical, religious, or military subjects, and then they set them to music. Finally, instrumental accompaniments and choreographies were added.21 The Conquest In its transoceanic explorations, Spain was not in search of virgin lands on which to establish its presence. Instead, the Spanish were looking for countries to plunder, to conquer, and to engage in commerce. The nature of the Mexican society-including its religious beliefs, geographic and demographic features, and political organization-made the conquest and subsequent expansion by the Spanish relatively easy. For example, before the Spanish arrived, indigenous groups lived under a well-established stratified society wherein the masses of peasants were accustomed to obeying and paying tribute to their governors. The conquest brought a change of revenue agency, but the indigenous were used to paying their taxes. In other places on the continent, however, indigenous groups were not unified politically, and were accustomed to engaging in wars of conquest and the subsequent sacking of territory." Consequently, these fragmented groups did not unite militarily to resist Spanish domination. In Aztec mythology, the beginning of life involved a marriage of two gods, Tonacateuctli and Tonacacihuatl, who lived in a superior heaven known as Ometeuctli, or "place of two." This couple procreated four children-Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca, Yayauhqui Tezcatlipoca,

llHeller, "Music Education in the Valley of Mexico," 47; and Sahagun, A History ofAncient Mexico, 202. l3Carrasco, "Mexican Society before the Conquest," 287.

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Quetzalcoatl, and Huitzilopochtli-who became the gods responsible for the creation of the world and the other gods. Among other beliefs, the Aztecs were convinced that Quetzalcoatl, or "the feathered snake," would one day come from the sea. He would be tall, white, and have a hairy face." When Moctezuma II, Aztec emperor at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1519, was informed of the arrival of the Spaniards headed by Hernan Cortes, he assumed that they were gods and that Quetzalcoatl was among them, as had been predicted by the Aztec priests. Therefore, he reacted in a way that insured the loss of his empire. He sent ambassadors to welcome the visitors with gold, silver, and precious stones. After receiving these presents from Moctezuma, Cortes fanned out his forces and began his trek toward the capital. Through information received from his translators, Cortes learned about rivalries and internal conflicts among the different indigenous groups, which he later learned to use to his advantage by establishing alliances with some groups and preparing for possible ambush with others. Some of the indigenous told Moctezuma about the Spaniards, including the impressiveness of the visitors' horses and firearms. After Moctezuma received Cortes in his palace, he realized too late the real purpose of the visitors. Cortes ordered the destruction of Huitzilopochtli's temple and the erection of a cross in its place, which provoked a confrontation that ended in a massacre of the Aztecs. Then, after using Moctezuma to control the Aztecs, Cortes had him executed." Finally, after two years of war, on 13 August 1521, the Spaniards seized Tenochtitlan, now called Mexico City, and claimed it for the Spanish Crown.

2-lIbid., 241-42. 2