Music, as is well known, had an ambiguous status in Ignatius of Loyola’s conception of the Society of Jesus and in the early life of the new institution. In the extra-European missions, however, sounds and music soon became crucial tools in the Jesuits’ apostolic efforts. Missionaries became choir leaders, composers, song writers, music teachers, and instrument makers. The encounter with local musical cultures was stimulating but also problematic and required remarkable creativity and adaptability. How did all that fit with the missionaries’ own education, skills, and personality? How did it interact with their understanding and experience of the mission? And how did they account for their musical activities in letters and reports? This paper addresses these questions and tries to define a prosopography of Jesuit “musical missionaries” in the Americas between the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, based on three case studies presented in chronological order: Juan María Salvatierra (1648–1717), missionary in Baja California; Anton Sepp (1655–1733), in the Guaraní reducciones of “Paraquaria”; and Martin Schmid (1694–1772), in Chiquitos (Bolivia).
A Prosopography of Jesuit “Musical Missionaries” in the Early Modern Era
Filippi, Daniele V.
2025-01-01
Abstract
Music, as is well known, had an ambiguous status in Ignatius of Loyola’s conception of the Society of Jesus and in the early life of the new institution. In the extra-European missions, however, sounds and music soon became crucial tools in the Jesuits’ apostolic efforts. Missionaries became choir leaders, composers, song writers, music teachers, and instrument makers. The encounter with local musical cultures was stimulating but also problematic and required remarkable creativity and adaptability. How did all that fit with the missionaries’ own education, skills, and personality? How did it interact with their understanding and experience of the mission? And how did they account for their musical activities in letters and reports? This paper addresses these questions and tries to define a prosopography of Jesuit “musical missionaries” in the Americas between the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, based on three case studies presented in chronological order: Juan María Salvatierra (1648–1717), missionary in Baja California; Anton Sepp (1655–1733), in the Guaraní reducciones of “Paraquaria”; and Martin Schmid (1694–1772), in Chiquitos (Bolivia).
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