You loved SAVAE's bestselling recording Ancient Echoes, now enjoy their latest release--an authentic re-creation of the first Christmas music of the Americas! Celebrations of Christmas Eve (“La Noche Buena” in Spanish) were spectacular events in the cathedrals of Colonial Latin America. Nativity plays featured lively music influenced by that of the Aztec and Maya indigenous Americans, as well as the rhythms of the African laborers. The diverse dialects, rhythms, and melodies on SAVAE’s new Christmas recording capture the lively cultural exchange between Spanish and Native Latin American musicians of New Spain. This music was the first Christmas music composed on American soil, for the first American converts to Christianity. A unique and special holiday gift for any music lover!

Topic:	Christmas
Liturgical Season:	Christmas

”The songs of ”La Noche Buena” (i.e., Christmas Eve night) evoke a lost world, a multicultural Eden of astonishing beauty and reverence...the ensemble makes a case for why this music remains vital centuries later.” --- Laura Emerick, Chicago Sun-Times, suntimes.com

”SAVAE (the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble) moves beyond the same-old, same-old by venturing back in time a few hundred years, collecting 16 songs that were heard in colonial cathedrals on the Spanish frontier. It's an enchanting mix of melodies and rhythms of Aztecs, Maya and Incas, along with the Spanish Catholic missionaries, and (honestly) who knows what else. We do know this: Outside of church, you won't hear a more stirring program of sacred music this season.” --- dailynews.com

”A unique and very highly recommended addition to any multicultural Christmas music collection, La Noche Buena: Christmas Music of Colonial Latin America is an outstanding compilation of sixteen superbly performed pieces...” ---midwestbookreview.com, Carson's Bookshelf

”The collection, which includes sophisticated Mexican polyphony, is performed with buoyancy and high spirits by the versatile ensemble of seven singers-percussionists.” -- Wilma Salisbury, Music Critic, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"If you are looking for a gift for the ethnomusicologist on your list, this could be it...It's in the rhythms that one first notices the native and African connections; The melody lines are, for the most part, European Catholic liturgy-based, but the lyrics often reference, sometimes obscurely, local issues. So there is plenty of stuff for the ethnomusicologist to dig into. Those who enjoy varieties of chant and choral work, without necessarily delving into the background of the music, will find this enjoyable as well." -- Kerry Dexter, Dirty Linen: The Magazine of Folk and World Music, December '06/January '07

Hoy es día de placer (This is a day to rejoice)	Listen
Christus natus est (Christ is born)	Listen
Serenissima una noche (One serene night)	Listen
Hanacpachap cussicuinin (For the joy of the highest realm)	Listen
Dame albriçia mano Anton (Joyful tidings, brother Anton)	Listen
Tarara yo soy Anton (Sound the trumpet, I am Anton)	Listen
Eso rigor e repente (That sudden hardship)	Listen
Magnificat tertii toni (My Soul magnifies the Lord)	Listen
Conceptionem virginis Mariae (Immaculate Conception of Mary)	Listen
Xicochi, xicochi conetzintle (Gently sleep, precious little one)	Listen
A siolo Flasiquiyo (Greetings, Francis)	Listen
En un portalejo pobre (In a humble manger)	Listen
Tleycantimo choquiliya (Hush, little child)	Listen
Los coflades de la estrella (The brotherhood of the star)	Listen
De carámbanos el día (A day of icicles)	Listen
Convidando está la noche (Lively is the night)	Listen

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Secondary Language:	Spanish
Age:	Adult; Seniors; Young Adult