Early colonial era portative organ case, manual and bellows. Used, and preserved in the Dominican church and ex-monastery of Santa Maria de la Natividad, Tamazulapan, Oaxaca, Mexico.

On October 13, 2015, for the first time in Mexican history, mass was said in Nahuatl in Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Nahuatl, the language of the ancient Aztecs, is spoken today by Mexico's largest indigenous population. The vocal music was accompanied by violin, marimba and organ.

The mass represents the merging of two sophisticated musical cultures that first encountered each other in 1519 when the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, entered the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan. Charles V, the Spanish ruler, maintained an impressive corps of chapel singers, instrumentalists and organists in his court. Moctezuma II, the Aztec ruler, also maintained highly esteemed singers and professional musicians who played ceramic and bone flutes, wooden drums, conch shell and wooden trumpets, gourd rattles, turtle shell rasps, and whistles.

From the moment of contact, Spanish friars emphasized music. Juan de Zumarraga, the first bishop of Mexico, declared that music was a tool for "plowing and furrowing the Indian mind." He considered it more effective than preaching in evangelization and encouraged its use to teach the catechism. In Zumarraga's view, music lifted the spirits of his new converts to God and centered their minds on spiritual things.

Schools established by friars trained their students in singing plainchant and polyphony, and in making and playing European instruments. Churches in larger towns soon had indigenous cantors, choirs, orchestras and chapel masters. Indigenous musicians not only performed Catholic liturgical music but also composed four-part carols, Masses and other works. They also played the organ.

Organs were brought to Mexico as early as 1530 and became widespread during the 16 ^th century. The majority were portative organs which were medium-sized, full-toned, stopped, instruments played with both hands and requiring a second person to work the bellows. They had one manual and no pedals. The pipes were enclosed in cabinets, the doors of which were opened to release the sound.

While no 16 ^th century organ has survived intact in Mexico, several organ cabinets and wooden frames have. As we sit in Christ Church and hear our Jordi Bosch organ, we can imagine the sounds heard by the early Spanish friars. With their permission, indigenous musicians beat Aztec drums and played Aztec instruments as others simultaneously tolled church bells and played European instruments in Christian services. We might also picture the celebration in the plaza outside the Basilica of Guadelupe staged after the Nahuatl mass in 2015. Dancers in indigenous costume performed in rhythm with indigenous instruments and with the marimba, an instrument that came with African slaves to New Spain. The ground on which they danced, now dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was once sacred to Tonantzin Coatlaxopeuh, the mother goddess of the Aztecs.