JEAN HANELLE (c.1380 - c.1436)
Cypriot Vespers

01 Arsala'llah (Maronite tradition)

02 O Sapientia (plainchant)
03 O Sapientia incarnata / Nos demoramur (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

04 O Adonay (plainchant)
05 O Adonay domus Israel / Pictor eterne syderum (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

06 Bithleem estimazu (Greek-Byzantine tradition)

07 O Radix Yesse (plainchant)
08 O Radix Yesse splendida / Cuncti fundent precamina (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

09 O Clavis David (plainchant)
10 O Clavis David aurea / Quis igitur aperiet (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

11 I parthenos simeron (Greek-Byzantine tradition)

12 O Oriens (plainchant)
13 Lucis eterne splendor / Veni splendor mirabilis (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

14 O Rex gentium (plainchant)
15 O Rex virtutum gloria / Quis possit digne exprimere (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

16 Alyawma youlado mina lbatoul (Arabo-Byzantine tradition)

17 O Emanuel (plainchant)
18 O Emanuel rex noster / Magne virtutum conditor (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

19 O Virgo virginum (plainchant)
20 O sacra Virgo virginum / Tu nati nata suscipe (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

21 Simeron ghennate ek Parthenou (Greek-Byzantine tradition)

22 Hodie Christus natus est (plainchant)
23 Hodie puer nascitur / Homo mortalis firmiter (Jean Hanelle, Ms Torino J.II.9)

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About this CD

The little-known composer Jean Hanelle was a petit vicaire (professional musician) at Cambrai Cathedral and possibly later a teacher of Guillaume Dufay, also spending more than 20 years from 1411 onwards at the French court of Lusignan in Nicosia, Cyprus, a stay which involved him becoming the chapelmaster there. According to leading scholars, Hanelle was the author of the ars subtilior cycle of Magnificat-antiphons - the so called “O”-antiphons traditionally performed during the last week of Advent - found in the Codex Turin J.II.9 and included in this new Graindelavoix production. Both the original plainchant and the Hanelle troped antiphons are presented in a series of nine pairs, between which the ensemble also performs an appropriate and context-defining selection of Maronite and Byzantine chants.

The Belgian ensemble, as always directed by Björn Schmelzer, performs these pieces, marked by a moving beauty, with one female and eight male singers, producing another of their peculiar and intriguing soundscapes.

These Cypriot Vespers come with an interview with Björn Schmelzer carried out by Anne-Kathryn Olsen, a selection of late 19th-century photographs taken in Cyprus by John Thomson, and the first English translation of the antiphons, made by scholar Jeannine De Landtsheer from the University of Leuven.