In 1631 a Franciscan priest in the ‘Viceroyalty of Peru’ published a liturgical manual setting out Catholic rituals explained in both Spanish and the indigenous language of the area he was working in, Quechua. This book includes what is generally considered to be the earliest work of vocal polyphonic music printed in the New World, a hymn to the Blessed Virgin entirely in Quechua. The source entitles it Hanacpachap cussicuinin though people who know more about the language than I do tell me the Quechua words would nowadays be more properly rendered Hanaq pachap kusikuynin.

There is some debate as to whether the friar Bocanegra wrote the hymn himself, with some people preferring to attribute it to a student, though the source book appears to claim it is of his own authorship – it also claims that he wrote it in ‘sapphic verse’ – though classicists on the whole would identify that with a four line stanza, which does not match this text, so it is not entirely clear what he means by that claim.

The text itself is an adoration to the Virgin Mary, making use of epithets familiar from Christian tradition in the Old World and also imagery that might have been more familiar to the indigenous peoples among whom Bocanegra’s mission was to serve. There are competing narratives of the extent to which license to sing a Christian hymn in a local language was an inclusive gesture, or whether it was a somewhat manipulative practice to help converts to see festivals as festive in a context where most Catholic usage was imposed in Latin. There may be some truth in both ways of looking at this.

While some might see elements of the text which seem to identify BVM with the southern stars as a kind of syncretism, as it were Christianising the indigenous religions – that would no doubt have been a cause for discipline from Church authorities against the writer had it been too obvious. There are, of course, detractors who would see any Christianisation as inherently a damaging point, though Christians are unlikely to concede that entirely even while many of us hope to be respectful of and open to the truths within non-Christian religions too.

There are twenty verses in total, although when recorded or performed nowadays it is almost always abridged. I do not have the skill to translate myself from the Quechua language, so am reliant on the work of others. Perhaps, though, this may be a prayer apt for our times also:

O brilliant light of the Southern Cross,
Meeting with the bringer of the day,
Summon me in my disdain,
Save me
From my anger,
Precious grain store.