APUNTES PARA UNA HISTORIA DE LOS HIMNOS QUECHUAS DEL CUSCO

the performance of hymns in quechua is one of the most deeply-rooted expressions of andean christianity. this article attempts a preliminary analysis of the texts of the quechua hymns that are currently sung in the city of cuzco with regard to their historical origins, and proposes a chronology of the development of the genre from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. it is suggested that most current hymns belong to a type that developed towards the end of the colonial period and does not appear clearly in the written record until the mid-nineteenth century.