Immaculate Sounds

Unlike preexisting studies of convent music, Favila's work cycles back to theological discourse and nuns' personal spirituality with every point he makes. * Lindsay M. Johnson, Journal of the American Musicological Society *
Favila shows a remarkable skill in switching between typically isolated disciplines. * Karl Isaac Johnson, Antiphon *
"The meticulous and thorough analysis of the lyrics and music of these villancicos is remarkable." - Ascensión Mazuela-Anguita, Music & Letters
Immaculate Sounds offers a new approach to the significance of devotional music performance by creating synergy between music, literature and visual arts in the context of New Spanish convents. The book is generously illustrated with pictures, musical examples, and tables that guide the reader through a unique journey inside the resonant cloisters of New Spain. * Luisa Morales, Diagonal *
Favila has given us a glimpse into a fascinating world where divinity and humanity meet. * Jonathan Arnold, Theology *
Cesar D. Favila writes with compassion and curiosity, and with a love of storytelling that brings his material to life. He makes it possible for us to hear the long-silenced voices of women religious—chanting, singing, speaking— through meticulous scholarship, vivid biography, and fresh analysis of a wealth of sources. Immaculate Sounds weaves together the varied cultures of New Spain, creating textures and layers from strands of race, gender, faith, creativity, and community, in a multisensory, absorbing, and ultimately tender narrative. * Laurie Stras, Professor Emerita of Music, University of Southampton *
Cesar D. Favila's compelling monograph expertly weaves together scores, archival documents, biographies, art, and architecture to create a richly colored tapestry depicting musical culture in the convents of New Spain. The organization of the book—with its emphasis on both individual stories and the larger historical context— allows him to illustrate the soundscape of monastic life with musical examples that reflect a 'timeless, cyclical, and cosmic' approach to women's history. * Colleen Reardon, author of Holy Concord Within Sacred Walls: Nuns and Music in Siena, 1575-1700 *
Favila discloses an expansive, new world of convent culture, abounding in fresh musical, visual, literary, biographical, and bibliographical information. Readers familiar with Western European traditions may sometimes nod in agreement as he situates New Spain's convent music in its devotional contexts. At other times, his eye-opening revelations might even make them blink. * Craig A. Monson, Paul Tietjens Professor Emeritus of Music, Washington University in Saint Louis *
Blending cultural history, musical theory, and archival research, this work will definitely change the interpretation of the musical heritage of women's convents in colonial Mexico. * Asunción Lavrin, Emerita Professor of History, Arizona State University *
Immaculate Sounds makes important strides towards understanding the musical experience of New Spanish nuns as part of a more extensive set of devotional practices. Furthermore, the study models an effective methodological strategy for overcoming the difficulties of scattered and incomplete archives, a challenge that plagues scholars of colonial Latin America and beyond. All in all, Favila offers readers a rare opportunity to hear inside the imposing walls of New Spanish convents. His thoughtful reflections upon cloistered women's music make long-forgotten voices audible and open our ears to new possibilities. * Sarah Finley, Bulletin of the Comediantes *
It is important to point out that this book serves as a valuable link between the extensive Latin American scholarship on female monasticism and the Anglo-Saxon literature that underpins much of this research. * Adriana Guadalupe Alonso Rivera, Hispanic American Historical Review *
As a concluding note, Immaculate Sounds: The Musical Lives of Nuns in New Spain offers a detailed view of the musical lives of nuns in New Spain, highlighting their role as spiritual intercessors in the pursuit of Christian salvation through devotional music. This allows Favila to create a multidisciplinary perspective on a musical practice deeply rooted in specific historical and cultural contexts. This approach could serve as a foundation for future research into colonial music and the history of spirituality. * Pablo A. Suárez Marrero, Diagonal *
Favila is to be commended for his diligence in excavating convent archives and other collections in search of the raw materials with which to build his case. It is a strong case, and it is bolstered by the author' skill in using theory and his resourcefulness in identifying other possible aids to understanding (for example, Fanny Calderón de la Barca's firsthand accounts of nineteenth-century convent singing), to help fill in gaps. It is also strengthened by felicitously expressed insights that derive not from theory but from the author's own sensitivity and historical imagination. * Margaret Chowning, Church History *