Epiphany: Mystical Chant from Old and New Rome

cappella Romana
+ john michael boyer

Reprising Cappella Romana’s first all-chant concert in 2001, Epiphany features an ecstatic repertoire of Old Roman and medieval Byzantine chant.

Celebrated across the Roman Empire on January 6th, Epiphany honored both Christ’s nativity and baptism. New Rome (Constantinople) focused on his baptism in the Jordan (Theophany) while Old Rome embraced the adoration of the Magi, expanding Christmas to twelve days.

The Latin half features Old Roman Chant, an enigmatic repertoire cultivated in Rome’s urban churches before being suppressed in the 13th century. You’ll hear chants from the 11th-century St. Cecilia Graduale — the oldest Western source from which Cappella Romana has ever sung, including the joyous introit Ecce advenit, pictured here.

The Byzantine selections span centuries, from 8th-century Palestinian hymns to virtuoso compositions by Constantinopolitan and Athonite composers.

Old and New Rome: two eternal Cities, one eternal Epiphany.