Music in the California missions was a pluralistic combination of voices and instruments, of liturgy and spectacle, of styles and functions-and even of cultures-in a new blend that was non-existent before the Franciscan friars made their way to California beginning in 1769. This work explores the exquisite sacred music that flourished on the West Coast of America when it was under Spanish and Mexican rule; it delves into the historical, cultural, biographical, and stylistic aspects of California mission music during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
Published in Proceedings of Encuentros (Encounters) 2009 Symposium “Music and Musicians of the California Missions”, January 30, 2009, pages 1-30. Copyright © 2009 by Craig H. Russell.
Musical Style and Performance in California Mission Life
http://www.cilam.ucr.edu/diagonal/issues/2009/Russell.pdf
