The indigenous contribution to missionary music in Mojos (Bolivia)

Abstract

In attempting to emphasize the value of indigenous agency in the musical practice of the Jesuit missons writers have posited the existance of "native composers" during the Jesuits' regime. Focusing on the misson area of Mojos, this article aims to demostrate that: 1) Indian compositional activity during the Jesuit period lacked importance and originality; 2) inmediately after the Jesuits' expulsion presumably some Indian composers emerge, writing in a characteristic style that differs from the European. This may have been a consequence of the new relationship established between musicians and the white society and the efficient spirit of some government officials; 3) during the Jesuit period, musical performance was the arena where Indians made an active and idiosyncratic contribution.