Alleluia, O Kyrios evasileusen, prokeimenon of the Vespers of the Easter and of the Holy Mess on Monday (Ms. “Latin 5319” from Vatican Library) – after an interpretation of Lykourgos Angelopoulos (Athens) with Marcel Pérès’ choir, “Organum” (Paris).
This “Old Roman chant” (répertoire “Vieux Roman”) is an ancient tradition of the Church of Rome (starting with the 7th – 8th century until the 13th century), and it was developed in South Italy by the influences of the Greek colonies.
„Its distinctly Oriental character, which gives it the aspect of an ornamental cantilation, is by no means surprising when one remembers that at this period Italy was dependent not only on the Byzantine Emperor, but was also a land of asylum for a large Greek colony which had sought refuge there […] The Vespers for Easter Sunday are fascinating in the solemnity of the liturgical procedure and in the amplitude of the chants. The psalmody alternated with Alleluias whose melismata unfurled with a luxuriance that was not met with at any other period of the liturgical year.” (Marcel Pérès)