Rodríguez Mata: Passions

Antonio Rodríguez Mata served as maestro de capilla of the cathedral in Mexico City from sometime after 1614 until his death in 1643. His three settings of the Passion represent a distinct tradition that developed in the vicinity of Mexico City during the early seventeenth century. The introductory essay to this edition places the Mexican Passion in the context of the more hispano. Features of the Mexican tradition and Rodríguez Mata’s individual style are discussed. In this edition, based on choirbooks housed in the cathedral in Mexico City and at the Newberry Library in Chicago, Rodríguez Mata’s works appear together with the mensural chant with which they were intended to be performed (preserved in a 1582 Salamancan print).