A few weeks ago I brought my camera to choir rehearsal.
I had been wanting to do so for a very long time but I kept on forgetting.
I finally got to take a few pictures of the choir and of the beautiful convent where we rehearse.
Since I first set foot inside it all I have eyes for are the frescoes on the walls and ceilings of the cloister.
I made 3 videos with the pictures I took and with some songs from a recital we had on March at that very convent.
Un Sarao de la Chacona
The first picture is of Angelina, one of our sopranos :) Isn’t she beautiful? Even as unprepared as she was for this picture, I surprised her with it. I love the texture of the adobe wall behind her, there was a tarantula web in it, which of course I didn’t include on the video but you can see it here:
Tepoztlán is such a beautiful town to visit! And, no, it’s not crawling with tarantulas!
The next picture in the video is the entrance of the Convent and main church. The decorative arch with “aztec” motifs is made entirely out of seeds and grains.
The last pictures are of Patricia, one of our new sopranos, she’s wearing a hat, I don’t know much about her yet, but she’s very nice to be around and has a lovely voice. And 2 of our altos, Susana and Alicia, Alicia is the one sitting on the stairs and smiling, she is a remarkable artist. Susana is always joking around and making us laugh and has a very nice accent, she’s from Argentina and has a wonderful voice!. The last picture is of Odiseo, our youngest tenor, he’s 15 years old.
Teresica Hermana
On the particular day I took this pictures we were moved back to a different room which was were the choir used to rehearse before I joined them and there was a garden next to it! It’s been “chained” ever since. I guess they didn’t appreciate to have us wandering off into it. It smelled of guavas, citrus and mango. The Guava tree has a pinkish hue to its bark.
If you have any insights about this song I’d love to hear them since there’s been many hypothesis about it at the choir but I’d sure love to know the exact story behind it.
Con qué la lavaré
“¿Con qué la lavaré, la tez de la mí cara? ¿Con qué la lavaré? Que vivo mal penada.
Lávanse las galanas con agua de limones”
I’ve heard longer versions of this piece, but these are the only lines we sing. It’s so beautiful!
Just like a Tepoztlán evening, Look at the wonderful color of that night sky.
This is the sign that was made for this recital
I like it a lot.
I must say I have always been very impressed by the choir members and I feel so happy to be a part of it.
I remember the first time I heard them rehearse at the convent, it was glorious and amazing!
I’m looking forward to September being over because then I believe we will have a different repertoire, we’ve been rehearsing other traditional mexican songs for the 200 years celebration of the independence such as “La Adelita” and I miss these other kind of songs, (meaning the ones on the videos) plus the 17th-18th century Spanish Christmas Carols they sang last year were delightful and I’m very much looking forward to rehearsing them! <3
(Specially “Vaya Vaya de Cantos de Amores” and “Es Nascido”)
The other pictures of the choir are from a recital they had in Cuautla just before I joined them. Only my foot appears once or twice because I took the photos but I do sing in all 3 of them :)
This is the sign that was made for this recital
4 responses to “Coro de Santiago”
Claudia this is a wonderful post! I loved that the decorative arch is of seeds – amazing! …so are you!!
Aaw Karen! You're always so sweet! <3:* Thank you!
Beautiful music and great to see the video that goes with, gracias.
¡Gracias a ti Tania! Me alegro que te gustara.