¡Fiesta Barroca Latina!

Ensemble Villancico, Peter Pontvik

Somewhere in 18th century Latin America, the priest has just concluded mass, and now it’s time for festivities!

Music and dance reflect the traditions of the varied population, where both Native, African, and European elements are expressed in a fiesta accompanied by traditional dances with flutes and drums. The music on the album also reproduces the liturgical repertoire which, through its texts in Guaraní, Mapudúngún, Mochica, Spanish or Latin, tells of the subjugating force of a Christian-Catholic worldview, implemented over several centuries.

Ensemble Villancico has introduced the Scandinavian audience to a new genre: early world music from Latin America. Since 1995, the group has delivered its colourful music to around thirty countries in Europe and South America, as well as the Galapagos Islands. The group has recorded ten CD albums, received a Grammy nomination, an interpretation award and several recordings on radio and TV, both in Sweden and abroad. The combination of colourful early Latin American repertoire and a vocal and instrumental ensemble schooled in Swedish tradition, has resulted in world reputation and a leading position within the genre. The ensemble’s clear, homogeneous sound and the warm, passionate interpretations have won international acclaim.

The ensemble’s founder and leader since the beginning is Peter Pontvik, born in Copenhagen in 1963, and educated in composition, musicology, vocal and choral conducting in Sweden, Germany, and Uruguay. He has written chamber music as well as choral and orchestral works, and has done extensive research in early music. Pontvik is the founder and artistic director of the Stockholm Early Music Festival and initiator of the international Early Music Day. He has been chairman of REMA (European Early Music Network) and is ditto in NORDEM (Nordic Early Music).