Music in the Basilian monks’ pastoral work in the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Beata Lorens

Abstract

The Basilian monks were responsible for pastoral work in their own parishes, served in sanctuaries visited by large numbers of the faithful, and conducted ‘folk missions’ among the populations in the eastern parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Music, both vocal and instrumental, played an eminent role in their activities. They were the ones who introduced instrumental (mainly organ) music in the Eastern (Uniate) Church. In the 2nd half of the 18th century, the instrument was more and more frequently to be found in Uniate churches. Analyses prove that the organ was used in monasteries of the Lithuanian province, especially in cities and in Lithuania, Volhynia as well as the Chełm Eparchy. It was intro­duced less frequently in the southeast of the Commonwealth – the Ruthenian and Podolian provinces. Apart from the organ, the churches also had wind and string instruments at their disposal, but the latter were mostly used during parish feasts related to indulgencies. Monas­teries had their vocal-instrumental ensembles. In the 18th century, they performed music in at least six of them (Vilnius, Chełm, Zhyrovichy, Pochaiv, Univ, Supraśl), while the presence of music instruments is recorded for five others (Zahorów, Uman, Biała, Buchach, and Baruny). The monks also used the services of ensembles established in Roman Catholic churches or at aristocratic houses. They cultivated traditional Eastern church singing, but at the same time familiarised the faithful with Latin songs and hymns translated into Polish or Ruthenian (Ukrainian). The monks themselves also wrote texts of religious songs for various occasions. The compositions applied by 18th-century Basilian monks in their pastoral work combined elements of traditional Eastern Church music with influences from Western Baroque music.