Liner Notes
Cat. No. 80292
Release Date: 1995-01-01
Alabados y Bailes
The music of the alabados is as different from the music of the bailes as the dark is from the light. It is like two sides of a people's character, one side obsessed with suffering and death, the other delighting in the dance.
Dark and Light in Spanish New Mexico is a wonderful example of salvage anthropology, preserving as it does the unique musical expression of a bygone tradition. At one time, roughly between 1600 and 1850, alabados (Spanish Catholic hymns) and bailes (social dances) thrived, the one as spiritual expression of the moradas (local chapters of the Penitente brotherhood) and the other as social dance music. Today, these art forms are mere spirits in the Hispanic villages of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The dark dirges and morbid religious hymns of the alabados were used for death rituals such as wakes, funeral processions, and burials. The bailes, on the other hand, were performed by guitarists and violinists at birthday parties, weddings, and other high-spirited occasions where dancing was not only permissible, but essential. The extensive and fascinating liner notes by Richard B. Stark include a selected discography and bibliography and put the songs in their historical perspective.
The music of the alabados is as different from the music of the bailes as the dark is from the light. It is like two sides of a people's character, one side obsessed with suffering and death, the other delighting in the dance.
Dark and Light in Spanish New Mexico is a wonderful example of salvage anthropology, preserving as it does the unique musical expression of a bygone tradition. At one time, roughly between 1600 and 1850, alabados (Spanish Catholic hymns) and bailes (social dances) thrived, the one as spiritual expression of the moradas (local chapters of the Penitente brotherhood) and the other as social dance music. Today, these art forms are mere spirits in the Hispanic villages of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The dark dirges and morbid religious hymns of the alabados were used for death rituals such as wakes, funeral processions, and burials. The bailes, on the other hand, were performed by guitarists and violinists at birthday parties, weddings, and other high-spirited occasions where dancing was not only permissible, but essential. The extensive and fascinating liner notes by Richard B. Stark include a selected discography and bibliography and put the songs in their historical perspective.
Dark and Light in Spanish New Mexico
| MP3/320 | $9.99 | |
| FLAC | $9.99 | |
| WAV | $9.99 | |
| CD | $15.99 |
Track Listing
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Al Pie De Este Santo Altar
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Considera, Alma Perdida
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Venir, Almas Devotas
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Dividido el Corazon
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Buy
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Tened Piedad, Dios Mio
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Buenos Dias, Paloma Blanca
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Buy
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Dulce Esposo de Mi Alma
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Buy
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Bailes: El Valse (in G)
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Buy
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Bailes: El Cutilio (in G and C)
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Buy
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Bailes: El Cutilio (in G)
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Buy
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Bailes: El Cutilio (in D)
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Buy
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Bailes: El Cutilio (in D) -
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Buy
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Bailes: Turkey in The Straw
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Bailes: The Arkansas Traveler
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Buy
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Bailes: Listen to The Mockingbird
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Buy
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Bailes: La Tercera de Noviembre (El Valse)
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Buy
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Bailes: El Valse (in A)
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Buy
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Bailes: La Polca (in G and D)
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Buy
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Bailes: La Indita
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Buy
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Bailes: El Chotis
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Buy
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