“Strong, enduring bodies with glorious voices”: Music and the Body in Ignaz Pfefferkorn’s Sonora: A Description of the Province (1794–1795)

Abstract

I had nine or ten musicians, counting only those in the most important village of my mission area, three of whom I myself had taught to play the violin, the others of whom had learned from Spaniards to play quite well on the zither and the harp. I had trained them to play on their instruments in unison2 to accompany the church singing, an accompaniment which they performed competently and in pleasant harmony. Thus were sometimes sung the Mass, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Salve Regina, and other devotional songs. For such singing I chose some of the best voices among my Indians and trained them so that they could render from memory the usual songs of the Christian service.3