Five Christmas villancicos from the Seminario San Antonio Abad, Cusco, Peru: commentary and performance editions

Abstract

This document focuses on the performance edition of five Christmas villancicos found in the manuscripts from the musical archive of the Seminario San Antonio Abad in Cusco, Peru. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rich traditions, which included painting and music, were established in the Seminario, cathedral and other churches in Cusco. Among these musical traditions was the villancico, which became popular during religious festival seasons such as Easter, Corpus Christi and Christmas. The popularity of the villancico was in large part due to its use of the vernacular language, Spanish. Only a small number of villancicos found in this archive, have been published and available in modern editions. This document attempts to correct that situation by providing choral editions of these villancicos so they may be programmed and performed by modern-day choirs.