Immaculate Sounds: The Musical Lives of Nuns in New Spain

The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is the belief that Mary, the mother of Christ, was exempt from original sin from the moment of her conception. This devotion was praised in Europe and resounded in the Americas with the founding of the first convent in Mexico City in 1540. Cesar D. Favila argues that the sonification of virginity and the Virgin Mary was fundamental to the promotion of the doctrine and that this was part of a complex network of sonified practices in the lives of New Spanish nuns. Favila explores rarely studied music sources from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New Spain alongside rulebooks, devotional literature, and nuns' biographies to bring together a narrative of salvation that shines a light on the musical lives of nuns and locates women's agency within a hierarchical society.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 14 December 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is a central belief in Catholic doctrine, holding that Mary, the mother of Christ, was exempt from original sin from the moment of her conception. This belief gained widespread praise in Europe during the medieval period and continued to resonate in the Americas with the establishment of the first convent in Mexico City under the Order of the Immaculate Conception in 1540. All other orders of nuns in New Spain branched out from this convent, spreading the Marian devotion throughout the region.

In his book, author Cesar D. Favila explores the role of sonification in the promotion of the Immaculate Conception doctrine and its significance in the lives of New Spanish nuns. Favila defines "immaculate sounds" as the idealized vocalizations and musical metaphors used by cloistered nuns to express their doctrinal rhetoric. These sounds echoed the highly regulated realm of the convent and played a pivotal role in mediating between the lives of New Spanish nuns and the expectation that they would save the secular world through their vocalized prayers.

Favila's study reveals that the sonification of discipline was not the only aspect of the nuns' lives that involved immaculate sounds. He demonstrates how these sounds also enhanced the nuns' engagement with their religious practices and facilitated embodied and spiritual engagement with Catholic doctrines. By delving into rarely studied music sources from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New Spain, alongside rulebooks, devotional literature, and nuns' biographies, Favila weaves together a narrative of salvation that sheds light on the musical lives of these women.

The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary remains a deeply revered belief in Catholicism, and Favila's book contributes to our understanding of the complex ways in which music and religion intertwined in the lives of New Spanish nuns. His exploration of the sonification of virginity and the Virgin Mary highlights the importance of music in shaping religious practices and beliefs, and sheds light on the ways in which the nuns of New Spain contributed to the spread of Marian devotion throughout the region.

Weight: 750g
Dimension: 244 x 160 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197621899