''Hanacpachap cussicuinin'' (modern orthography: ) is a processional hymn to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

in the

Quechua language Quechua (, ), also called (, 'people's language') in Southern Quechua, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes. Derived from ...

but in a largely European sacred music style. Composed by Juan Pérez de Bocanegra between 1620 and 1631,Bruce Mannheim, "A Nation Surrounded," in ''Native Traditions in the Postconquest World'', ed. Elizabeth Hill Boone and Tom Cummins, 383–420 (Dumbarton Oaks, 1998), 388. a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

priest, published in 1631 in the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

making it the earliest work of vocal polyphony printed in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. Robert M. Stevenson, ''Music in Aztec and Inca Territory'' (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968), 280–281.

History

''Hanacpachap cussicuinin'' appears for the first time in the

Ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

published by the

friar Juan Pérez Bocanegra in 1631 entitled , written in both Quechua and Spanish, although the hymn itself is in Quechua only without translation. The music is arranged for four voices. When published, the score appeared on pages 708 (tiple, tenor) and 709 (alto, baxo) with the first verse written underneath, while the remaining verses follow on pages 710–712. There are detractors who say that the lack of

picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

in the music, for instance, suggests a mistake so basic that someone of Bocanegra's standing would never have made, being an editor of choral works, and have suggested that there may have possibly been another author,José Quezada Macchiavello, "Formación de la cultura musical en la Colonia-Siglo XVI," in ''La Música en el Perú'', 73–80 (Lima: Filarmonía, 2007), pp. 76–78. or even that it might have been the work of a local native. It could also quite simply have been a transcription error or typesetting omission prior to publishing. On page 707 of the 'Ritual' Bocanegra specifically states ''"The prayer that follows I did write in Sapphic verse, in the

, in honour of the Immaculate Virgin: the music is composed for four voices such that cantors may sing it for processions, upon entering into the church, and on days dedicated to Our Lady and on her feast days."'' Since the entire book contains his name throughout it seems highly unlikely the hymn was written by anyone else other than Bocanegra, who also happened to be the Chief Examiner of native languages for the Archdiocese of Cuzco. The piece has been recorded extensively since the early 1990s by groups all over the world (see

list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

below). Many modern performances use only a few of the verses to avoid excessive repetition. However,

Ex Cathedra Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

(dir.

Jeffrey Skidmore Jeffrey Skidmore Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 27 February 1951) is the conductor and Artistic director (music), artistic director of Ex Cathedra, a choir and early music Musical ensemble, ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midl ...

) issued the first full version in 2007, divided into four sections and using varying arrangements. There are 20 verses in total.

Description

Bocanegra identifies the poetic form as '', or ( Sapphic verse), although what he meant by this is unclear. Each verse is made up of five eight-syllable lines and a closing four-syllable phrase, which in the original print copy appeared in italics. Often an epithet, this phrase sometimes links to the next verse.Jeffrey Skidmore
''Fire burning in snow''
at Hyperion website The twenty verses are set strophically. Musically, it is set for four male voices:

Tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a particular type of guitar, typically with 10 or 12 strings but sometimes fewer, and is built in several distinct regional styles. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first written mention of ...

Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

Tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and Baxo in a

homorhythm In music, a homorhythm or homometer is a texture having a "similarity of rhythm in all parts"Griffiths, Paul (2005). ''The Penguin Companion to Classical Music'', p.375. . or "very similar rhythm" as would be used in simple hymn or chorale settin ...

syllabic A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

style, with a harmonic structure characteristic of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

sacred music. The rhythm, dividing neatly into 3+3+4+3+3+4, with lilting syncopations in mm. 7, 11, and 14. Its character is close to that of the

cachua The ''cachua'' (''qachwa'', ''qhaswa'', ''kashua'', ''kaswa'', ''kachura'') ( or , diminutive form ''cachuita'') is a Latin-American baroque dance form found mainly in Peru. It still exists today as a circle dance. The term comes from the Quechu ...

, a native dance, suggesting a slow procession. It is considered to be the musical counterpart of the paintings of the

Cuzco School The Cusco school (''escuela cuzqueña'') or Cuzco school, was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru (the former capital of the Inca Empire) during the Colonial period, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was not limited to ...

. The lyrics are an ode to the

, containing many metaphors about love and nature grounded in Quechua culture. The epithets given to Mary can be interpreted syncretistically both an orthodox Catholic way and as a continuation of traditional religious practices, with neither interpretation dominant. Surprisingly, two terms relating to the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...

are prominent, '' and '', while a third, '', is conspicuously absent. Since the Pleiades symbolized fecundity, a major theme of this song, '' may have been deliberately avoided to distance the song from those of the

Taki Unquy ''Taki Unquy'' ( Quechua, Hispanicized and alternative spellings ''Taqui Ongoy'', ''Taki Oncoy'', ''Taqui Honcoy'', ''Taqui Onccoy'', ''Taki Onqoy'') was a millenarian Indigenous movement of political, religious and cultural dimensions which arose ...

movement.Mannheim, 400–401.

Text (first two verses only)

Recordings

* Agrupación Musica, ''Pérou-Guatémala, Musiques Des Cathédrales Latino-Américaines'' (ARB, 1991) * Americas Vocal Ensemble, ''Gala del Día (Day's Splendor): Choral Music from the Americas'' (North/South, 2002) * Cristina Garcia Banegas, Norberto Broggini, and Francis Chapelet, ''De la musique des Conquistadores au livre d'orgue des indiens Chiquitos'' (

K617 K617 is a French classical music record label based in Metz and founded by Alain Pacquier, music author and creator of the Festival de Saintes at the Abbaye aux Dames in Charente-Maritime, and the Festival de Sarrebourg (July) at the Couvent d ...

, 1999) *

Boston Camerata The Boston Camerata is an early music ensemble based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Narcissa Williamson, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as an adjunct to that museum's musical instrument collection. The Camerata incorpora ...

, dir. Joel Cohen, ''Nueva Espana: Close Encounters in the New World, 1590–1690'' (

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...

, 1994) * Camerata Renacentista de Caracas, ''Baroque Music of Latin America'' (Dorian, 2000) *

La Capella Reial de Catalunya ''La Capella Reial de Catalunya'' is a group of soloist singers under the patronage of the Government of Catalonia with the aim of celebrating, maintaining, and reviving medieval vocal polyphony and the music of the Spanish Golden Age. The group wa ...

and

Hespèrion XXI Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Catalan musical director Jordi Savall (bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), his wife Montser ...

, dir.

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish Conducting, conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol ...

, ''Villancicos y Danzas Criollas'' (Alia Vox, 2004) * Convivium Musicum, ''Old and New Christmas'' (Musica Rediviva, 2011) * Coro Exaudi de La Habana, dir. María Felicia Pérez, ''El Gran Barroco del Perú'' ( Jade Music, 2000) * Cusco Polyphonic Chorus, ''Christmas in Cuzco'' (Arion, 1999) * Ensemble Elyma, dir.

Gabriel Garrido Gabriel Garrido is an Argentinian conductor specialising in Italian baroque and the recovery of the baroque musical heritage of Latin America. Garrido was born 1950 in Buenos Aires, and at the age of 17 with the Argentine recorder quartet, Pro Arte ...

, ''Hanacpachap: Latin-American Music at the Time of the Conquistadores'' (

Pan Classics Pan Classics is a Swiss classical music record label. It was founded in 1992 by Pan Music of Zurich. In 1997 the classical label was acquired by the recording engineers Clément Spiess and Koichiro Hattori, and relocated to Vevey, on Lake Geneva Th ...

, 1991) * Ensemble Villancico, dir. Peter Pontvik, ''A La Xácara!: The Jungle Book of the Baroque'' (Caprice, 2000) *

, dir.

, ''New World Symphonies: Baroque Music From Latin America'' ( Hyperion, 2002) *

, dir.

, ''Fire burning in snow: Baroque Music from Latin America'' ( Hyperion, 2007) (claims to be first complete version) * Savae, dir. Eric Casillas, ''Native Angels'' (Iago Music, 1996) *

Leonardo García Alarcón Leonardo García-Alarcón (born 5 August 1976 in La Plata) is an Argentinian conductor specializing in baroque music. He studied harpsichord and organ and was assistant to Gabriel Garrido for several years, before founding the ensemble Cappella M ...

/Cappella Mediterranea/Chœur de Chambre de Namur/Ensemble Clematis, ''Carmina Latina'' (Ricercar, 2013) * University of Notre Dame Magnificat Choir, dir. Patrick Kronner, ''Magnificat'' (

Signum Records Signum Records, also known as Signum Classics, is a classical musical record label in the UK founded in 1997. The label began with a project to make the first recording of the complete works of Thomas Tallis. The artists for the Tallis recordi ...

, 2024)

Notes

{{reflist

Edition

* Juan Pérez Bocanegra. ''Ritual, formulario, e institución de curas para administrar a los naturales de este reyno, los santos sacramentos del baptismo, confirmacion, eucaristia, y viatico, penitencia, extremauncion, y matrimonio: con aduertencias muy necessarias''. Lima: Geronymo de Contreras, 1631
Online facsimile
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. (This piece appears on page 708.)

External links

Free scores of Hanacpachap cussicuinin
at the

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL), also known as the ChoralWiki, is an online database for choral and vocal music. Its contents primarily include sheet music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing ...

. Quechuan languages 1631 in music Peruvian songs 17th-century hymns

History

Description

Text (first two verses only)

Recordings

See also

Notes

Edition

External links