From the stark archaism of medieval Spain to baroque Mexico, where African slaves celebrate the birth of Christ by singing and dancing their negrillas. The trip continues towards Southamerica where, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, the nativepeoples of Peru ask their lords for permission to celebrate Christmas Eve with songs and dances in their own local style. An Inca maiden adores her child in Spanish tinged with Quechua accents. The itinerary then moves southward and into the present day, where the Child is cradled to the sound of a vidala, while angels, shepherds, and kings celebrate his birth with carnival dances. 

Ay, Jesús mi niño! seeks to recreate – through music – the popular piety of the Hispanic world. In the spirit of the processions of Spanish America, we have curated a program in which the sacred and the profane, the past and the present, servants and lords, merge into a single voice to revere, with ecstatic joy, the inexhaustible mystery by which He who holds the world in the palm of his hand chose to be carried in the arms of a mother. 

Performed by

Choir

Sikuris w Krakowie

Authentic instruments from South America (Dir. Arturo Terrazas)

General direction

• José Vidal

Programme

Peru (c. 18th Century)

• Codex Martínez Compañón
• Cachua a Duo y a Quatro al Nacimiento de Christo Nuestro Señor
• Cachua a voz y bajo al nacimiento de Christo Nuestro Señor

Bolivia–Argentina (c. 20th Century)

• Canto de Cuna indio – José Alberto Sutti
• Misa Criolla and Navidad Nuestra – Ariel Ramírez
• El Nacimiento (Vidala Catamarqueña)
• Los Reyes Magos (Takirari)
• Gloria (Carnavalito-Yaravi)