Heavens and Drums

 

Sunday, September 20th 2026, 19:00, Zunftsaal zum Schmiedenhof, Rümelihof 4, 4001 Basel

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Programm

• Domenico Zipoli (1688 - 1726): Sonate d’Intavolatura per Organo e Cimbalo op. 1 (1716), Violin sonata in A- dur

• Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco (1644–1728): Zarzuele (Selections, arranged by the ensemble)
  Anonymous music preserved in archives in Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico

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Ensemble Ad Fontes: Anne Simone Aeberhard (recorders) – Bruno Hurtado Gosálvez (viol) – Mojca Gal (violin) – Niels Pfeffer (guitar) – NN (soprano) - Philipp Lamprecht (percussion)

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Musical exchange between Europe, the Americas, and Africa

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In the Jesuit missions of South America, Indigenous musicians received thorough training according to European standards under the guidance of clerics and composers such as Domenico Zipoli. This gave rise to fascinating cultural hybrids: baroque structures blended with local melodies, playing techniques, and instruments to form a new, distinctive style.

In urban centers like Lima and Sucre, Creole composers such as José de Orejón y Aparicio developed a unique musical language that artfully wove together European forms with Indigenous traditions and languages. At the same time, musical expressions of African origin left a lasting mark on the musical life of the period—especially in villancicos, dances, and procession music driven by powerful rhythms and percussive elements.

In this music, three cultures meet as equals. It reminds us that creative exchange and mutual respect are the foundations of cultural richness and lived tolerance.