A Concert of Previously Unedited Music for Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s Loa 380
7:30 pm on Saturday 6 April 2019
CNU Pope Chapel
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| Sor Juana, by Juan de Miranda, c. 1680 |
Jenny Edenborn, Violin
Susannah Livingston, Violin
Brady Lanier, Cello
Valentina Sorbera, Harpsichord
Presentation by Dr. Sarah Finley, Christopher Newport University
Responses by Christopher Newport University Spanish majors with the guidance of Dr. Elaine Miller
This event features “Al feliz natalicio” (“Praise to the fortunate birth”), anonymous court music from 18th-century Spain that includes fragments of Mexican poet and nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s Loa 380. Dr. Sarah Finley discovered the manuscript in Spain in 2018, and her subsequent transcription and research has led to this, its first performance in over 200 years. The find is an exciting one that lends new insight into musical settings of Sor Juana’s work. Today, there are nine extant scores for the author’s musico-poetic writing, and “Al feliz natalicio” is one of just two known examples of music for her theater pieces.
The concert is made possible through the gracious support of Christopher Newport University.