Canticum Novum

In this new programme, the Canticum Novum ensemble retraces the itinerary of an extraordinary traveller of the 16th century, the fascinating diplomat, man of letters and scholar, Hassan Al Wazzan. 

A man of both shores, an intermediary between Christian Europe and the Muslim world, Hassan al-Wazzān was born in Granada at the very end of the 15th century. Born into a noble and literate family and educated in the best schools, he quickly learned to handle the languages and codes of Eastern and Western cultures and then moved from one world to another throughout his life. In turn, diplomat for Morocco, ambassador, negotiator, his life will be a succession of exciting adventures: captured in Djerba by a Castilian corsair, he will be offered to Pope Leo X who will impose a Catholic education on him and rename him Joannes Leo de Medicis, known as Leo the African. In a humanist context, Hassan Al Wazzan put his excellent anthropological and geographical knowledge at the service of the Pope by writing his "Description of Africa", shaping (without his knowledge) the West's view of the dark continent. 

Illustrating this encounter between East and West, this new programme by Canticum Novum retraces the incredible journey of this man, considered to be one of the precursors of the figure of the adventurer-writer. Hassan the Traveller takes us on a journey through the ancient and traditional music that accompanied Hassan Al Wazzan's epic journey in the past and, for the duration of the concert, serves as a compass in our troubled century. 

Cast - 7 artists 
Canticum Novum (Emmanuel Bardon, conductor)
Barbara Kusa, Emmanuel Bardon, vocals 
Valérie Dulac, fiddle 
Guénaël Bihan, recorders 
Philippe Roche, oud & guitar
Ismaïl Mesbahi, percussion 
Marijke Bedleem, actress 

Gregoire Béranger, writing & direction 
Elsa Jabrin, lighting design
Vincent Aubrin, sound

Creation June 2024