Songs by Father Tymoteusz Szczurowski in 'Śpiewnik kościelny' [Church Songbook] by Father Michał Marcin Mioduszewski

Oksana Shkurgan

Abstract

Father Michał Marcin Mioduszewski CM (1787–1868) published his Śpiewnik kościelny [Church Songbook] (Kraków 1838), including Polish songs from the Catholic repertoire with standardized texts and melodies for a solo voice. The printed volume was a result of the author’s search for sacred songs, which he had collected for several years since 1830 and continued after the publication. In a later publication, Dodatek do Śpiewnika kościelnego [A Supplement to the Church Songbook] (Kraków 1842), in addition to the Roman Catholic repertoire, funeral songs and scores of mass chants, Mioduszewski included a set of poetic and musical-poetic anonymous compositions in Polish with the title “Songs performed in the Greek Catholic churches of the Chełm diocese”. In the foreword to the songs, he informed the readers that the Greek Catholic repertoire was borrowed from a work titled The Biała Mission [Supraśl 1792 – O.S.] by Father Tymoteusz Szczurowski. The songs were categorized according to subject (divine, about the Holy Virgin, about the saints and daily prayers). It has been determined that in his Śpiewnik kościelny (including the above-mentioned Supplement and its subsequent continuations printed in Leipzig: Supplement II (1849) and Supplement III (1853)) Mioduszewski published a total number of 44 songs written by a Basilian missionary, Father Tymoteusz Szczurowski (1740–1812), 27 of which were published with their melodies, while the remainder were included only in textual form. In the absence of earlier sources containing scores of Szczurowski’s songs, their musical-poetic versions published in the nineteenth-century church songbook are of particular significance. There can be no doubt that this printed collection contributed to the popularization of the legacy of this Greek Catholic missionary in the nineteenth century. The published results of Father Michał Marcin Mioduszewski’s efforts saved the songs written by Basilian monk Tymoteusz Szczurowski from oblivion.