assuming people came and originated in this area from the last ice age we the Selene and people lived in an extraordinary harmony that emanated from culture pass from one generation to the next generation to the next generation we were a nomadic tribe we wandered in our area in this beautiful weather and survived that way for thousands and thousands of years we had a interruption from other civilizations that appeared on our horizon what changed our culture why are we needing to adapt just in order to survive the Franciscan missionaries who came to California in the summer
of 1769 weren't prepared to deal with encountering the Native Americans of California who were a truly remarkable very self-sufficient people in effect the Padres were intruders in their midst and they realized that they had to reach the people on a certain level and this is where a mission music admission art comes together with it during the mission period music was a lure when a friar came to establish a mission he didn't share any words any language any Krammer with the people with whom he found himself well the common language was music so when a friar
came and invited you to sing it was a sign of respect and of divinity and those two cultures at that point resonated because they understood that music is important and they were embarking on the same journey to elevate the Creator when this mission was founded in 1772 and the ensuing decades if I entered this church we see mostly local Californians a lot of you know 2mass and Selena and indigenous First Nations people here in our church and there were these several sort of styles of music Juan Bautista Sancho at Mission San Antonio brings the full
experience of European music into California initially as a religious experience but it invariably becomes a social experience also so it's not a great leap from the sacred music of the church performed in almost a strictly European style as it gradually adapts and changes itself to the popular music of the larger community and he moves from the sacred to the fandango to the overwhelming joy of the social celebration with music which happened right here in this mission garden and at every other mission garden of all the repertoire in California mission period the most important piece would
have been the Fandango and the great thing about the Fandango is it's the audible musical photograph of equality fraternity and liberty that basically anyone can NASA found uncle G's would be the Viceroy you could be the king you three the Duke you could be moot soon you could be selina you could be Chumash you could be from Mexico you were welcome to dance the Fond uncle and it was another illustration of the Equality of California and the dance experience outside the mission which was a replication of life in the mission I understand the Fandango was
when our Native American young maidens were brought out to the young soldiers my lineage is from the very first recorded marriage in California she was a full-blooded Selena that married a young teenage Spanish soldier if you look at treatises of the time and letters of the time they all talk about the passion and fervor of the fandango it usually starts with a couple circling each other and looking each other and it builds an excitement and excitement excitement this idea that music unites us is a very very important theme it reassures us it tells us there
is something beyond where we are at this particular moment music will tell us that there is still hope there are aspirations and that was translated by the Padres they saw it as a wonderful cat a chemical tool that said there is more than just living doing what you're doing now you can hope for something better in the future you
