The history of the American Southwest is woven from the threads of migration, faith, and resilience. But some of its most profound stories aren't found in history books—they are preserved in the music that echoed through rural parish churches during the nineteenth century.

I am pleased to share the recording of the recent lecture, “Juan Bautista Ralliere’s Cánticos espirituales and the Making of a Transnational Soundscape in Nineteenth-Century New Mexico.” Originally delivered by Dr. Javier Marín-López, this presentation is a key outcome of the 2025 Underwriting Program awarded by the John Donald Robb Musical Trust at the University of New Mexico.

You can watch the full, fascinating presentation below:

Watch: Juan Bautista Ralliere’s Cánticos espirituales on YouTube

A Sophisticated Laboratory of Culture

This research forms part of a broader, multi-year project initiated in 2022 that investigates music in Spanish and Territorial New Mexico, specifically tracing its vibrant connections to the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and the Santa Fe Trail. Far from being a peripheral or isolated territory, nineteenth-century New Mexico emerges in this study as a sophisticated crossroads of cultural, theological, and communal creativity.

The lecture centers on Father Juan Bautista Ralliere, the deeply influential French-born cleric who served as the parish priest of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Tomé, New Mexico from 1858 until 1913. Fondly known by his parishioners as El Padre Eternal for his incredible 55 years of devotion, his physical legacy remains deeply rooted in the community he loved; today, a memorial plaque marks his gravesite beneath the very floorboards of the church.

Father Ralliere's musical legacy lives on through his compilation of the Cánticos espirituales—a monumental hymnal that went through at least 15 editions between 1875 and 1956. Dr. Marín-López’s archival research across the United States, Mexico, and Spain reveals how Ralliere and local communities engaged in contrafactum—the practice of taking European liturgical melodies or even popular secular tunes (such as the Scottish folk melody Auld Lang Syne) and pairing them with new Spanish devotional lyrics to create a uniquely Southwestern soundscape.

Honoring the Keepers of the Tradition

A vital dimension of this project is its recognition of the ordinary folk who kept these melodies alive across generations. Ralliere’s work as New Mexico’s first serious folklore collector relied entirely on his parishioners in Tomé, most notably the Samora family. From the mid-nineteenth century onward, generations of the Samora family served as organists, cantors, and traditional musicians, preserving a delicate oral repository of music that survived long after the physical hymnbooks had sold out.

In the mid-to-late twentieth century, these fragile oral traditions were rescued from the brink of oblivion by ethnographers like Rubén Cobos and John Donald Robb, alongside dedicated community tradition-bearers like the legendary Tomé singer Edwin Berry.

A Collaborative Achievement

This presentation and the ongoing archival research would not have been possible without the generous collaboration and support of several key institutions. Sincere gratitude is extended to the boards, librarians, archivists, and dedicated staff of:

• The UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute

• The John Donald Robb Musical Trust

• The University Libraries’ Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections (which proudly holds six rare editions of the Cánticos collectively displayed during this project).

Recovering this extraordinary repertoire is more than an academic exercise; it is a profound act of restoring voice, history, and agency to the communities of the Southwest.

A new book, Albuquerque’s Roman Catholic Heritage, by award-winning author John Taylor, has just been published by the Valencia County Historical Society.

Former State Historian Robert J. Torrez wrote,

Albuquerque’s Roman Catholic Heritage is much more than the title implies. This wonderfully illustrated and easy to read volume goes beyond the history of Roman Catholic heritage in the historic Villa de Alburquerque. The author opens with the stories behind the original San Felipe Neri Church in today’s “old town” and skillfully shows the development of the numerous parishes that developed as the city expanded and incorporated the myriad communities and local chapels that dotted the middle Rio Grande Valley, including histories of churches and parishes located north and south of greater Albuquerque, as well as those along the eastern slope of the Sandia mountains. These stories are enhanced by dozens of seldom or never-before published photographs as well as many contemporary images not only of churches, but of individuals that contributed to the development and growth of the Roman Catholic heritage in the greater Albuquerque region.

The book describes over 100 parishes, missions, and other affiliated institutions.  Its 183 pages are richly illustrated with 300 color images and over 100 historical black and white images.  The document is also thoroughly indexed for ease of study.

Albuquerque's Roman Catholic Heritage is available on Amazon or at the Los Lunas Museum of Heritage & Arts for $30. For additional information or questions, please contact John Taylor at jtlymtnest@aol.com or Louis Huning at huninglo@loslunasnm.gov.