Colonial Period Latin American music was highly developed in the viceroyalties of New Spain (modern Mexico, American Southwest, and northern Central America) and Peru (most of South America). The Viceroys’ palaces (Mexico City and Lima), which were the seat of civil authority, played a role as cultural centers in the same way that European courts had done. The Cathedrals and convents established in these cities, and in Puebla and Guatemala, served as centers for musical instruction and performance in religious services.

The Spanish conquest of the new world began within a few years of its “discovery.” The Spanish enslaved local Indigenous populations through a system of forced labor. Many of the conquistadores were abusive; in 1543, laws were passed in an attempt to improve treatment of the Indigenous population. Free blacks came to the new world beginning in 1492. As early as 1513, the Spanish began to import African slaves to work in mines and on plantations.

Although set against this backdrop of enslavement and abuse, the Catholic Church in many cases worked to create ties with the Indigenous and African populations. On an institutional level, they were working to acculturate these populations into Spanish culture and religious practice; however, many individuals worked to preserve Indigenous languages and cultural artifacts.

In an effort to reach out to the ethnic communities, Spanish church composers incorporated Indigenous languages, African-Spanish dialects, and characteristic rhythmic elements from both cultures into newly composed religious music. Many of these compositions are in the form of villancicos, and many are centered on the celebration of Christmas. These multicultural mixings of European melodies and harmonic structure with African and Indigenous rhythms underpin traditional Latin American music today.