Canticum Novum

2015 was the centenary of the Armenian Genocide. In order to commemorate such a painful event, Canticum Novum has decided to create an intercultural dialogue between France and Armenia. Let us precise that these countries have been closely related since the XIIIth century when the House of Lusignan ruled the kingdoms of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia. That’s how Leon II de Lusignan was crowned King of Armenia in 1252. The influence of the Lusignan family was to last until the end of the kingdom of Armenia (1375). The cultural exchanges that prevailed at the Armenian court in the XIIIth century are being revived by Canticum Novum. In the repertoire that the ensemble has worked out, the most luminous pieces of music echo each other through messages of peace and mutual respect.

• Armenian liturgical and popular music
• Music of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
• French Music: Estampies and Royal Dances
Le Manuscript du Roi ca. 1270-1320

Distribution 

Barbara Kusa, Emmanuel Bardon, Varinak Davidian, voice
Aliocha Regnard, nyckelharpa & fidula
Emmanuelle Guigues, kamansheh & vièle
Valérie Dulac, vièle & lyre d’archet
Spyros Halaris, kanun
Philippe Roche, oud
Gwénael Bihan, flûtes à bec
Agop Boyadjan, duduk
Ismaïl Mesbahi, Henri-Charles Caget, percussions

3 singers et 9 instrumentists