Padilla is symbolic of an age. One of the most important composers of the ‘New World’, Padilla was a native of Spain who emigrated to Mexico at a time when the church had money as well as a great appreciation of art in the service of the church. Streams of Tears reflects not only the penitential nature of this music but also a period in history know as the ‘Siglo de Oro’ when Spain and Portugal were masters of the great ocean and in the process of discovering and developing new lands in the Americas. The music of the period is as varied as it is distinctive, with a harmonic richness and colour that is found nowhere else.