So 18. AMch 264. Sonata [C] IV

In 1972, during the restoration of several eighteenth-century missionary churches in Concépcion, Bolivia, the Swiss architect Hans Roth discovered a large eighteenth-century colonial-era collection of musical manuscripts of over five thousand pages.  Since then, several other collections have been found within the same region of eastern Bolivia, which borders the Amazon Jungle and Brazil.  Jesuit musicologist Peter Nawroot has only recently published modern editions of these texts, and scholars have suggested the authorship of the anonymous instrumental pieces belongs to the Chiquitos and Moxos indigenous populations. While much scholarship has paid attention to the choral music by canonical Jesuit musicians, little attention has been paid to the anonymous indigenous instrumental pieces, even though they constitute the largest portion of the collection. 

As a history scholar, composer, and Bolivian-American, I find it significant to highlight this genre of music because the common perception of indigenous music by people from Latin America is typically associated with folk music, while what we would call classical music composed by indigenous people is often ignored. Therefore, I have arranged “Trio Sonata IV,” a sonata from the uncovered Concepcion manuscript collection, which was originally composed for a small chamber ensemble, for a full chamber orchestra.