Vilancets "De negre" catalans del segle XVII

Authors

  • Josep Pujol i Coll

Abstract

This paper puts in context a dozen Baroque Catalan villancicos preserved in scores or in lyrics. They are comic black villancicos according to the terminology of the times dealing with black slaves, and they were very common between the 16th and 18th centuries. These villancicos are set within the framework of the festive occasions on which they were represented and the authorship of many of their lyrics was given. Lastly, we remark on the intertextual borrowings which must be known to understand the extent of the phenomenon, pointing out the reasons for these pieces' sustained success for over two centuries:the recreation of characters that represent a domesticated alterity, which was very useful to the Counter-Reformation, and the regulation of a humour of profane roots, which provides a controllable release for the excesses of earlier times.

Published

2019-01-15

Issue

Section

Articles