The Historic Organs of Oaxaca with Video of Organ Concert Rehearsal

Organ, Baslilica de La Soledad, Oaxaca 

The Mexican state of Oaxaca has numerous historic pipe organs and a rich musical tradition of organ music.  There are 65 known organs with some dating back to the late 17th century or possibly earlier. They range from those built on a grand scale,  such as the organ above in the Basilical of La Soledad in Oaxaca City to the charming smaller one in the church of San Jeronimo in the town of Tlacochahuaya, located about  thirty minutes outside of Oaxaca City.  

San Jeronimo, Tlacochahuaya

Watch video at:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaQvhFy4-2k 
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To see more of  the beautiful "Folk Baroque" church of San Jeronimo, Tlacochahuaya, please go to this link:  http://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.mx/2013/05/folk-baroque-san-geronimo-tlacochahuaya.html 

For more information about the Historic Organs of Oaxaca here is a link to the website of the organization that is dedicated to the preservation of them: 
http://www.iohio.org/eng/home.htm 

Santa Maria Tonanzintla: A Cutural-Religous Bridge

Santa Maria Tonanzintla, Puebla, MX

Santa Maria Tonanzintla, built in the early 1600's and located in  the municipality of Cholula, is a short distance from the city of Puebla, Mexico. The talavera (tile) and brick facade of this church is magnificent, but through its doors lies another world.  Santa Maria Tonanzintla is one of the Folk Baroque  churches of Mexico, where indigenous and Christian elements are mixed.  It is unique among these churches in the extent and clarity of the pre-hispance elements.   Some churches have symbols here and there that are pre-hispanic, but here every argamasa  ( a technique in which a mortar-like substance was sculpted and then painted and gilded) surface of the church is suffused with the pre-hispanic.  This was an area that was populated by Nahua-speaking peoples,  the group to which the Aztecs belonged.  Tonanzin, in this culture, was a goddess associated with the earth and fertility and the word Tonanzintla means" the place of our little mother".  Of course, Maria refers to the Virgin Mary and the name of the church encapsulates the two religious systems.

Make no mistake, it is evident that Santa Maria Tonanzintla is Christian house of worship, but the indigenous identity with its beliefs, sentiments and symbols has found a home here as well. More than any other Mexican church, Santa Maria Tonanzintla, was the place where the Franciscans gave their indigenous flock free artistic reign. In doing this they wisely made a peace between the faiths, letting them co-exist in a way which permitted the indigenous identity to survive and made  Christianity more palatable.  The sort of negotiated accommodation that Santa Maria Tonanzintla represents is explored more fully in my March 24th post "Converting Christianity".  

Technically, no photography is allowed in Santa Maria Tonanzintla although post-cards with images of the church are sold outside.  However, no one seemed to object to the few photos of the interior I took standing outside of the church.  At first glance, Santa Maria Tonanzintla is overwhelming- so many images and so much vibrant color; walking into this church is like walking into a jewelry box.  Every square inch of the walls and ceilings are covered with sculpted figures.   It is hard to know where to focus; the best way to see churches like this is just to sit there and keep looking.  All photos below can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Santa Maria Tonanzintla, Cholula, Puebla

Santa Maria Tonanzintla

Santa Maria Tonanzintla, ceiling detail

To step into Santa Maria Tonanzintla, from the indigenous perspective, was to step into a kind of paradise. The domed ceiling of the chapel represents the sky of Tlaloc, the god of rain and what seem to be angels are actually people who have died drowning or being struck by lightning and have been reincarnated in Tlaloc's heaven.  These figures are mixed in with figures from the Christian tradition. 

Dome Detail, Santa Maria Tonanzintla

Cristo Resucitado (Resurrected Christ)

St. John of the Cross

Throughout the church are figures shown wearing a feathered headdress.  This is highly significant, as the feathers were symbols of the central Meso-American deity Quetzalcoatl.

Figure with Feather Headdress

To the modern visitor, Santa Maria Tonanzintla is a marvel rife with color and form, a place both exotic and visually enticing.  For the indigenous whose hands built this church it must have had a very different significance.  My guess is that it was a place where they felt comforted by the presence of what was familiar and meaningful and learned to be comfortable with the new faith that had become a part of their lives. 

Some scholars believe that Santa Maria Tonanzintla is a folk reinterpretation of the Rosary Chapel in the Dominican church/convent in nearby Puebla.  We will be exploring this chapel and another like it in Oaxaca in the next post, and the proposed connection between Santa Maria Tonanzintla and these will become clearer.

Folk Baroque: San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya

San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca

When I walked in the doors of this church in a small town some thirty minutes outside of Oaxaca City, I had some idea of what I would see, but was totally unprepared for what I found.  Unequivocally, I can say that it was the best thing I have ever seen in my life; on a scale of one to ten, I would give it a fourteen.( Note the solidity of the architecture, which I have already discussed at length in my April 16 post "Oaxacan Baroque: Environment and Architecture".)  

Entering, I heard an organ playing and it dawned on me that I was being treated to a rehearsal of the recital that I had been told would take place in this church later that day.
The impact of the music and art together was surreal and I am including a video that I shot of this event in my stunned state, forgetting all the rules I knew about how to shoot videos.  You can view this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaQvhFy4-2k.

Interior of San Jeronimo

Tlacochahuaya means "watering place" in the Zapotec language and was founded in 1558 as a retreat hermitage not reaching its current size until the 18th century.  The interior is a mix of colonial altarpieces and Oaxacan folk art and painting, which itself is a composite 
of indigenous and Spanish styles. It is to this blending of Spanish Christian and indigenous elements that the term Folk Baroque refers. 

Main altar

The main altar of San Jeronimo, seen in the photo above, is a Oaxacan baroque masterpiece with spiraling Solomonic columns and a painting of "The Descent from the Cross" believed to be by Juan de Arrue, a well-known Oaxacan painter of the time (late 17th-early 18th centuries).  Zoom in on the photo for a better look.  The statue of Christ on the altar is that of Cristo Resucitado, the resurrected Christ, as the photo was taken during the church season of Easter when this particular image of Christ is central.  

Close-up of Cristo Resucitado

There was one image of Christ in the church that is very specific to rural Oaxaca:
that of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey;  you will see this image in
many of the churches there.  I have not read any theories about why this particular image is so popular in Oaxaca, but visiting the rural animal markets in the small towns, you get an sense of the connection people have to animals.

Jesus riding to Jerusalem on donkey

There was another beautiful statue of Jesus Nazareno, (again please refer to the post I just referenced for more information), in the church, seen below.

Jesus Nazareno

Close-up of above photo

La Virgen de la Soledad is the patron saint of Oaxaca and her church, the Basilica de la Soledad is located in Oaxaca City.  Her statue is found in many rural Oaxacan churches and San Jeronimo was no exception.  There will be more about this iconic image in a future blog post.

Virgen de la Soledad.

For the most part in Western Europe and North American, the Trinity is an abstract concept, but in Latin American Colonial art it is represented in a more graphic way, as can be seen in the Padre Eterno below.  In this statue and others like it, all persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are represented.  In other places, Jesus is not shown crucified, but rather as another person.  The Holy Spirit is seen in the gold bird that sits on the top of the crucifix.  The orb and crown, both royal attributes, emphasize the kingship of God the Father over all.  Notice the elaborate brocade of the robe.

Padre Eterno

Everywhere you turned in this church, there was another engrossing treasure. In addition to the main retablo (altarpiece) there were a number of beautiful side altars. 

Calvary Altar  with portrait of St. Catherine of Siena

Guadalupe Altar

 The decorative painting that covered the church walls was outstanding and present to an extent I have not seen in most other places.  Below are just a few instances:

There is a tradition of Colonial-era organ restoration in Oaxaca and much emphasis is placed upon these beautiful instruments.  The organ in San Jeronimo is a masterpiece among them  with its exquisite detail and painting and I was lucky enough to be able to go up into the organ loft which is rarely permitted.  The organist at the organ is the one  playing on the video,  the noted Mexican organist Gustavo Delgado Parra.