Hanacpachap cussicuinin

Hanacpachap cussicuinin appears for the first time in the Ritual published by the Franciscan friar Juan Pérez Bocanegra in 1631 entitled Ritual, formulario e institución de curas, written in both Quechua and Spanish, though this hymn appears without translation.[1] The music is arranged in four parts.[3] When published the work was on pages 708 (tiple, tenor) and 709 (alto, baxo) with the first verse written underneath, while the remaining verses follow on pages 710–712. While Bocanegra claimed that he wrote the text, the author of the music remains anonymous; many sources presume it was Bocanegra himself,[1][4] though others believe it may have been the work of a native.[2]

The piece has been recorded extensively since the early 1990s by groups all over the world (see list below). Many modern performances perform only a few of the verses to avoid excessive repetition.[5] However, Ex Cathedra (dir. Jeffrey Skidmore) issued the first full version in 2007, divided into four sections and using varying arrangements.[6]

Bocanegra identifies the poetic form as verso sáfico (Sapphic verse), although what he meant by this is unclear.[1] Each verse is made up of five eight-syllable lines and a closing four-syllable phrase, which in the original printed appeared in italics. Often an epithet, this phrase sometimes links to the next verse.[6] The twenty verses are set strophically. According to Bocanegra on p. 707 of the Ritual, the song was sung as a processional hymn on Lady Days.[2]

Musically, it is set for four voices (tiple, alto, tenor and baxo) in a homorhythmic syllabic style, with a harmonic structure characteristic of Renaissance sacred music.[4] The rhythm, dividing neatly into 3+3+4+3+3+4, with lilting syncopations in mm. 7, 11, and 14.[2] Its character is close to that of the cachua, a native dance, suggesting a slow procession.[4] In this blend, it is the musical counterpart of the paintings of the Cuzco School.[4]

The lyrics are an ode to the Virgin Mary, containing many metaphors about love and nature grounded in Quechua culture.[4] 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.[7] Surprisingly, two terms relating to the Pleiades are prominent, qullqa and qatachillay, while a third, unquy, is conspicuously absent. Since the Pleiades symbolized fecundity, a major theme of this song, unquy may have been deliberately avoided to distance the song from those of the Taki Unquy movement.[8]

• 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, 1999)
• Boston Camerata, dir. Joel Cohen, Nueva Espana: Close Encounters in the New World, 1590–1690 (Erato, 1994)
• Camerata Renacentista de Caracas, Baroque Music of Latin America (Dorian, 2000)
• La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI, dir. Jordi Savall, 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, Hanacpachap: Latin-American Music at the Time of the Conquistadores (Pan Classics, 1991)
• Ensemble Villancico, dir. Peter Pontvik, A La Xácara!: The Jungle Book of the Baroque (Caprice, 2000)
• Ex Cathedra, dir. Jeffrey Skidmore, New World Symphonies: Baroque Music From Latin America (Hyperion, 2002)
• Ex Cathedra, dir. Jeffrey Skidmore, Fire burning in snow: Baroque Music from Latin America (Hyperion, 2007) (claims to be first complete version[6])
• Savae, dir. Eric Casillas, Native Angels (Iago Music, 1996)
• Leonardo García Alarcón/Cappella Mediterranea/Chœur de Chambre de Namur/Ensemble Clematis, Carmina Latina (Ricercar, 2013)

• Ollantay

• 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. (This piece appears on page 708.)

• Free scores of Hanacpachap cussicuinin at the Choral Public Domain Library.