This is the first study about the musical practice in convents of Colonial Chile on the basis of new data collected in the archive of the convent of La Victoria in Santiago. It considers historical and musical aspects such as the image of the nun musician in traditional and postmodern historiography, her social status during the colonial period, the evolution of music groups (instrumentalists and singers), the stylistic changes associated with them, and the role played by foreign male musicians in the monastery. Finally, it questions the assumption that nun musicians enjoyed an independence from masculine gender. Furthermore it puts forward as a hypothesis that the frequent prohibitions of their musical and artistic practices originated not only in moralistic purposes, but also in the need of the secular clergy and civic authorities of limiting the growth of monastic institutions.
Vera, A. (2010). Swan Choirs, Siren Songs: An Approach to the Music in the Monasteries of Colonial Chile. Revista Musical Chilena, 64(213), p. 26 – 43. Retrieved from https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1711
