Journal articles on the topic 'Sacred Cantatas'

Abstract Ariane consolée par Bacchus, newly discovered by Christophe Rousset and the only surviving cantata attributed to François Couperin, is scored for bass voice, obbligato bass viol and continuo. Because Couperin passionately engaged with Italian music, scholars have long assumed that he would have composed cantatas, but until now none had been known to survive. His choice of bass voice and viol, an unusual combination in the French cantata repertory, opens several avenues for investigation. A precursor to his choice of bass voice and viol can be found in his petits motets, some of which date from the 1690s, and the verset Deus virtutum convertere (1705). Although bass voice and solo viol do not yet appear together in a single work, Couperin’s writing betrays his interest in new Italian music and in composing for the viol. Some Italianate features that appear in the early sacred works can also be found in Ariane consolée par Bacchus.

Из многочисленных сочинений Штёльцеля в библиотеке герцогов Саксен-Гота-Альтенбургских на сегодня осталось 11 нотных рукописей, в том числе девять партитур духовных кантат. Предлагаемый впервые на русском языке анализ трех из них, принадлежащих к раннему и позднему периодам, позволил выявить стилистические общности и различия образцов данного жанра в наследии композитора. В нотном приложении впервые опубликована кантата Und der Herr sprach: Auf und salbe ihn (1745). In the ducal library of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg there are now only 11 manuscripts including 9 scores of the sacred cantatas from the many musical compositions of Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. Analysis for the first time of three of them, belonging to the early and late works of the composer, made it possible to identify their stylistic communities and differences. Cantata Und der Herr sprach: Auf und salbe ihn (1745) is published for the first time in the supplement.

Maurice Greene (1696–1755), best known for his sacred and secular vocal music on English texts, left a substantial corpus of vocal chamber music set to Italian texts that remained unpublished during his lifetime and has not been studied in detail until now. It comprises ten cantatas for soprano and continuo, one cantata and seven chamber arias for voice, violin and continuo, four chamber duets and a cycle, scored variously for soprano and bass voice with continuo, of 15 settings of Anacreontic odes translated into Italian by Paolo Rolli. Greene was the only major English composer contemporary with Handel to produce such a quantity and variety of ‘Italian’ vocal music, and these compositions, which evidence a very good knowledge of the Italian language and Italian musical style, are of a quality to match their Handelian counterparts. They are subtle, responsive to the text and in certain respects very distinctive and original.

On 16 March 1736 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi died from consumption at age twenty-six in the Franciscan monastery of Pozzuoli near Naples, leaving a considerable number of compositions in all genres: stage works, cantatas, instrumental music and sacred music. On account of the success these compositions had enjoyed in Italy during his life, and the extraordinary fame they achieved in the rest of Europe after his death, a multitude of works bearing his name continued to be disseminated, many of which had little, if any, connection with Pergolesi himself. This phenomenon invites us to question what mechanisms are at work when a piece of music is misattributed, for if spurious or doubtful works can be classified according to their origin, then the identification of recurring patterns may help disentangle similar cases. This essay aims to classify the origins of misattributed sacred works from the first decades of Pergolesi's posthumous reception.

Summary This article examines nine sacred cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach which address the subject of exile and religious identity. The biblical or general theological background of the text of each selected cantata, as well as the way in which Bach set the text to music, is discussed. We can learn from Bach that, first, there should be a legitimate space to express fear and insecurity about the arrival of foreigners. Second, believers who are in exile can associate their Christian identity with the life of Jesus while inviting unbelievers to find their identity in Jesus. Third, both suffering and hospitality are true features of Christian discipleship. Fourth, Bach’s interpretation of exile as a divine punishment is not the final message. The motif of exile as punishment is transformed by a Christological interpretation. Finally, the end of exile can be celebrated. In exile, believers dare to hope and to believe; at the end of the exile, believers celebrate without forgetting their past suffering. Both testify to a sound religious identity.

Understanding religious music is challenging. Indeed, the whole idea can seem perplexing and problematic. In this paper, a number of ways of understanding religious music are sketched. Seven main models are distinguished: the side-effect model, the ringtone model, the honey model, the addition model, the fitting beauty model, the organic unity model, and the similarity model. Some issues concerning Bach’s Sacred Cantatas are then considered in order to see how these approaches apply in one particularly controversial and puzzling example.

AbstractThe opera house in Leipzig opened its doors in 1693. Operas had been performed in central Germany for quite some time but they were primarily confined to courts. With the founding of the opera, Leipzig, home of an important trade fair, provided an additional musical attraction that could entertain merchants coming for the fair. While the year 1693 marks the beginning of regular opera performances in Leipzig, the preceding decades saw an increased interest in dramatic genres in the realms of both secular and sacred music. The connection between these dramatic works and the opera house are not just circumstantial. Some of the key players in the opera business in Leipzig were involved in these earlier pieces as well, especially the poet Paul Thymich, the first librettist for the Leipzig opera, who provided the majority of texts for the drammi per musica, Singspiels and sacred cantatas.

As Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great (1729–1796) shaped not only history in general but also, as a member of its princely family, the history of Anhalt-Zerbst. Drawing upon little known eighteenth-century manuscripts housed at the Landeshauptarchiv of Saxony-Anhalt in Dessau and the Francisceumsbibliothek in Zerbst, this study assesses the impact of Catherine’s marriage in 1745 to Grand Duke Peter of Russia (1728–1762) on musical life at the court of Anhalt-Zerbst during and after the thirty-six-year tenure of Kapellmeister Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758). First the role of music at the court prior to 1745 will be considered – specifically the ‘Concert-Stube’, an inventory of the Hofkapelle’s musical library prepared according to Fasch’s specifications in March 1743. The second section of this article focuses on the celebrations held at the court in 1745 on the occasion of Catherine the Great’s wedding. The Hofkapelle premiered a large-scale serenata by Fasch, the music to which has been lost. However, an examination of the extant libretto and of other music by Fasch that was performed at the court during the 1740s sheds light on the musical forces he would have employed and the compositional approach he might have taken. The Hofkapelle also performed a secular wedding cantata for bass solo and instruments by an anonymous composer as part of a spectacular fireworks display in three acts, the ‘Anhalt-Zerbstisches Freuden-Feuer’ (Fire of Joy), chronicled by Zerbst headmaster Johann Hoxa. Finally, it is possible to reconstruct a performance schedule of sacred music premiered in honour of Catherine the Great from 1746 to 1773. Despite Fasch’s death in 1758 and the Seven Years War, which led to the town of Zerbst being occupied by 16,000 Prussian soldiers for three years until 1761, new music was commissioned by the court from Fasch’s successor Johann Georg Röllig (1710–1790), Catherine the Great’s keyboard instructor at the court of Anhalt-Zerbst. He not only provided occasional compositions to commemorate her birthday and accession to the Russian throne but also composed a new cycle of Sunday cantatas to reflect the changing artistic priorities and practices of the Hofkapelle in the early 1760s.

Statement of the problem. The spiritual music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdi remains insufficiently covered in domestic scientific research. To a greater extent, the interest of musicologists is observed in his secular work – large symphonic or chamber-instrumental compositions (the overture “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Songs Without Words” for piano etc.). However, the musical embodiment of religious texts by F. Mendelssohn testifies to how deeply they were heard by the author. Since the composer was a religious person, spiritual choral music occupies a significant place in his legacy. In addition to psalms, it is represented by oratorios, cantatas, motets, hymns. Nevertheless, compared to oratorios, other genres (psalms, motets, cantatas, hymns) have not been studied enough in scientific works. In fact, spiritual concepts in the sacred music of F. Mendelssohn also remain unexplained. However, it is precisely the considering certain leading ideas that can combine different works that is the key to a deeper understanding of the composer’s spiritual music. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of this article is to consider the specifics of implementation of the spiritual concept “Have hope in God!” in the psalms by F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdi. The term “concept” is used in a meaning close to its original understanding by the “father of conceptology” P. Abelard – as higher than even the “category” the result of the vivid activity of the exalted spirit. The specificity of the chosen topic required the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the subject of research and methods of spiritual-semantic, comparative, genre-stylistic analysing the musical material. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in the musicological thought, the concept of hope in God was revealed in F. Mendelssohn’s psalms and the ways of its embodiment in various examples of this genre in the composer’s work were explored. Research results and conclusion. During his lifetime, the composer wrote nine psalms, which we propose to divide into two groups based on their structure and composition: 1) large-scale psalms for choir, soloists, and orchestra; 2) more chamber ones, for a cappella performance. As a result of the study of these works at different levels (verbal, tonal and harmonic, intonation-thematic, timbre) it was found that the studied spiritual concept is actualized through a verbal text that is identical (“Harre auf Gott!” – “Have hope in God!”) or similar (common ideological content of the text – the hope in God), through musical intonations (use of separate melodic and rhythmic constructions of leit-theme “Harre auf Gott!”), certain common tonal principles (major key), performance staff (choral rendition). Degree of conformity may be varied. The highest degree of similarity is observed between two parts of the psalm № 42. № 4 and № 7 are characterized by equal text, thematic material, key, and scale (F-major). Connection between the psalm № 42 (№ 4 and № 7) and psalm № 43 (Final) is almost the same, but the scales are different (F-major and D-major). There are more distant parallels between the psalm № 42 and psalms №№ 2, 22, 115. The conclusion states that the spiritual concept of hope in God combines not only different numbers within one psalm and psalms within one cycle, but also works that belong to different groups of psalms and periods of the composer’s work.

In the last work by S.I. Taneev - a cantate “At the reading of a psalm” - a multifaceted mastery of the composer, his artistic convictions, which had defined his life journey, manifested themselves to the highest degree. In some research works of the Soviet period, rather ambiguous and tendentious assertions about the meaning and the content of the cantata can be found. Usually, they disavow the key - religious and philosophical - context of the composition, and only the works of the recent decades focus on this aspect. The author of this article offers the variant of the interpretation of the religious and philosophical concept of the composition based on the analysis of the composer’s work with a literary text and the detection of semantic interrelations between the poetic and the musical contents of the cantata. The author concludes that Taneev doesn’t set himself a task to literally reflect the literary text in music, but uses it, principally, as a source of colorful vivid associations, the preassigned order of which allows him to create a particular religious and philosophical worldview. The musical part of the cantata can be divided into two conceptual spheres: macrocosm - the universe in its religious and philosophical understanding (NN 1-4), and microcosm - a person and the way of her spiritual evolvement in the world, leading to the understanding of the highest moral fundamentals of life, formulated in the sacred text (NN 5-9).   

Background. In Ukraine both musicologists and performers (in particular the choirs conducted by well-known choirmasters) do much for the further development of the home Bach studies. For instance, the direction of the ‘choral bahhiana’ was actively developed by the leading choirmasters of that time professor M. Berdennikov (Kiev), Y. Kulik (Kharkiv) in the 60’s and 70’s. It is known that future students of the choral conducting departments first learn the choral heritage of J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel, as a rule, at the piano lessons at children musical schools and secondary schools. Unfortunately, their choral works aren’t often sounded today in the concert halls of musical academies and universities of arts. This music seemed to move from the concert stage to the classrooms. Analysis of publications according the topic. Among the researches that highlight the problems of the style of the sacred works of J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel, it is necessary to point out the fundamental studies of I. Givental and L. Gingold, M. Druskin, T. Livanova, V. Protopopov, A. Schweitzer, articles of modern authors by K. Berdennikova, N. Inutochkina, Y. Lyashenko, V. Semenuk, G. Skobtsova. However, the questions of the specifics of choral vocal technique remain, as a rule, outside the attention of scholars and they constitute the topic’s relevance of the article. Methods. The usage of the historical method contributed to the research of the educational choral performance at the present stage. It is involved structural-functional and intonational methods for establishing dramatic works’ features and concretization of their spiritual content. The comparative method is used to determine the differences between vocal style of J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel’s works and the technique of working with them. Objectives. The main goal is systematization of theoretical and practical observations with the performance of J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel’s choral works by the choir of the Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts students. The article is devoted to highlighting the problems of the performing process and the specifics of the choir practice of students with compositions by J. S. Bach (Cantata No. 140, ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’ and Magnificat) G. F. Handel (Dettingen Te Deum in D major, HWV 283). Results. The holding of the 22nd International Music Festival “Kharkiv Assemblies” devoted to the J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel’s oeuvre in 2015 was a significant event not only for Kharkiv but also the whole Ukraine’s musical life. The choir of the Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts students traditionally participated in it as in previous years (art director – Honored Art Worker of Ukraine, professor S. Prokopov, choirmasters – laureate of the all-Ukrainian competition H. Savelyeva, award winner of the all-Ukrainian competition O. Fartushka). The choir performed Magnificat and Cantata No. 140 by J. S. Bach ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’, fragments from the Dettingen Te Deum in D major, HWV 283 by G. F. Handel (the last two works are Kharkiv premieres). The work with them took place in short order and so it caused of some vocal technique difficulties and the problems of performative concept and performative style. Complaxities were intensified by the lack of necessary acoustic accumulation and the practical experience of performing the music of the Baroque by many young choirmasters, members of the choir group. The importance of studying the musical heritage of composers of genius in order to make a conductor-choirmaster personality is emphasized in the article. The main difficulties of learning choral scores due to the lack of performing experience, certain acoustic accumulation of choral music of the late baroque period which students of choral conducting specialization have. The approximation to the true understanding of the performing style of choral music by J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel may be provided with conditions of a thorough in-depth studying their works. The main tasks of the performative choices are described: appreciation of the entire depth of the spiritual content of J. S. Bach’s and G. F. Handel’s music by young performers, the correlation between vocal and instrumental principles, rational and emotional ones. One of the main tasks of the choir practice of students with J. S. Bach’s cantata No. 140 «Watchet auf, ruft uns die Stimme» was an adequate presentation of composer’s style. The composer treats the human voice as equal to the orchestra. Therefore, the vocal-instrumental nature of Bach’s choral style needs another way of sound-building, a greater unity of voices than our home choral music needs. They consider specific methods and techniques of work on such executive factors as tempo-rhythm, strokes. The questions of choral vocal technique, in particular, vocal intonation (significance of timbre expression, usage of different types of respiration, clear diction, active articulation) are raised. J. S. Bach’s interpretation of voice as an instrument, demands from performers a great deal of its mobility, almost virtuosity, especially in contrapuntal sections. As for the vocal style of G. F. Handel, the influence of the operatic style, which is felt in his oratorios and cantatas is emphasized. Conclusions. The choir practice of students and performing by the student choir of German composers’ genius works, the communication of young performers with outstanding conductors, singers (including foreign ones) became for them the true school of craftsmanship, promoted the professional growth of the choir group, revealed its new performance capabilities. Choral music of J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel should move from the educational audiences of universities and academies to the specific halls. The works of genius need to include in student choral groups’ repertoire.

El músic català Josep Masvasí fou mestre de capella de la Seu de Manresa (1731-1762). Malgrat aquesta llarga estada de 31 anys, tenim poques notícies de la seva producció musical, doncs només es conserva un Responsori per les Matines de Nadal (1733) i la informació de varis oratoris sacres que foren cantats a Manresa per la capella de música de la Seu. Una anàlisi d’aquest nocturn Verbum caro factum est ens mostra les tècniques compositives que utilitzava, oferint així un exemple d’aquest període del barroc musical català.

Resum: A partir de principis de la setzena centúria, la implantació de la impremta i el consegüent afermament de la tradició escrita propiciaren que els goigs iniciaren, particularment a València, un progressiu procés de difusió. El nou invent facilitava incloure a l’estampació la reproducció de la imatge sagrada a la qual anava dedicada la composició, de manera que, a més de transmetre el text de l’oració, assoliren el valor i funció d’estampes devocionals. No incloïen, però, la música, la qual cosa indicaria que hagué de quedar fiada a la memòria i bon fer interpretatiu dels cantors de les capelles musicals. La posterior implantació dels postulats contrareformistes afavorí la difusió i popularització dels goigs, que culminà en la segona mitat del segle XVIII, quan la religiositat barroca fou qüestionada pels nous postulats il·lustrats. Els texts, de la lloança i invitació a la meditació pròpies del segle XVI, es transformaren majorment en peticions de favors i en històries narratives d’aparicions, troballes d’imatges i esdeveniments miraculosos, carregats de teatralitat i efectisme. L’Església contrareformista va veure en els goigs un bon mitjà per a exalçar els personatges sagrats i estimular la pietat dels fidels sense deslligar-se de la tradició literària de les hagiografies cultes. Els goigs passaren a ésser versions reduïdes d’aquest gènere literari, i també de les “vertaderes històries”, fent properes i comprensibles als fidels, gràcies a l’oralitat que els conferia el cant, les històries escrites, les quals, a la vegada, servien als pintors per a compondre llurs històries pintades..
 Paraules clau: goigs, Barroc, Contrareforma, València, festa.
 
 Abstract: From the beginning of the sixteenth century, the implantation of the printing press and the consequent affirmation of the written tradition caused that the goigs initiated, particularly in Valencia, a progressive diffusion process. The new invention facilitated the reproduction of the sacred image to which the composition was dedicated, so that, in addition to transmitting the text of the prayer, they achieved the value and function of devotional prints. They did not include, however, music, which would indicate that it had to be trusted to the memory and good performing of the singers of the musical chapels. The subsequent implantation of the counter-reformist postulates favoured the dissemination and popularization of goigs, which culminated in the second half of the 18th century, when Baroque religiosity was questioned by the new illustrated postulates. The texts, from the praise and invitation to meditation typical of the 16th century, were mainly transformed into requests for favours and narrative stories of appearances, finding images and miraculous events, full of theatricality and effect. The counter-reform Church saw in goigs a good way to exalt sacred characters and stimulate the piety of the faithful without getting rid of the literary tradition of cult hagiographies. Goigs happened to be small versions of this literary genre, as well as of the “true stories”, making them understandable to the faithful, thanks to the orality conferred by singing, written stories, which, at the same time, they served the painters to compose their painted stories.
 Keywords: catalan syntax, linguistic variation, diachronic linguistics, semantic change.

Statement of the problem. Since the 18th century, oriental theme have been firmly established in French classical music . Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) did not miss it in his vocal cycle “Persian Melodies” for voice and piano op. 26 (1870), which he transformed later into a picturesque symphonic canvas “Nuit Persane” op. 26-bis (1891). The very fact of such a transformation cannot fail to arouse research interest, especially since the score became not just a vocal-orchestral version of “Persian Melodies”, but acquired features of spectacular theatricality. If the early period of the composer’s work was marked by such significant achievements as Piano Quintet (1855), Christmas Oratorio (1858), Piano Trio No. 1 (1863), Introduction and Rondo-capriccioso (1863), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1868), numerous mélodies and sacred motets, then with the outbreak of the FrancoPrussian War (1870–71), the composer’s productivity decreased. It is indicatively that in 1870, when he wrote only a few compositions, “Mélodies Persanes” was among them. What significance, in the context of the composer’s creative evolution, was his appeal to the images of the East? How exactly does he reveal the oriental theme? Elucidation of this question, along with the study of the author’s style of C. Saint-Saëns, became the purpose of our research. Objectives, methods, novelty of the research. The following tasks were implemented: the main facts from the history of creation, first performances, sheet music publications of “Mélodies Persanes” and “Nuit Persane” were summarized; A. Renaud’s poems, which became the poetic basis of these works, were translated; the form, intonation structure and logic of harmonic development in each of the numbers of the Cantata were analyzed; the semantic constructions and the features of the musical dramaturgy of the work were characterized; and specific details of the orchestral writing were revealed. For analyzing the work, historical, genre and style, structural and functional, comparative, and systematic research methods were used. The vocal cycle “Mélodies Persanes” (the “prototype” of the Cantata) has attracted some research attention (Noske,1954; Ladjili, 1995; Johnson, 1997; Zeng Tao, 2016; Bertaux, 2021). There are significantly fewer studies of the cantata “Nuit Persane” op. 26-bis. One of the first reviews belonging É. Baumann (1905) emphasizes the difference between the Persian and the African Orient. Some research aspects are covered in the text materials dedicated to the 2007 CD edition of the Cantata. Y. Gérard (2008) provides valuable facts from the history of the work, while W. Yeoman (2008) focuses more on its musical construction. H. Macdonald draws the parallels with “The Damnation of Faust” by H. Berlioz and come to conclusion that a number of C. Saint-Saëns’ works “evoke the Muslim world, but none with more potency than Nui Persane”(Macdonald, n.d.). The mentioned materials leave considerable space for further, more in-depth research into the score by C. Saint-Saëns, including the reproducing the oriental flavor in it, which determines the novelty of our study. Research results. The first decades of C. Saint-Saëns’ composer work (1850s–1860s) marked by the creation of the outstanding chamber-vocal compositions, such as “Rising of the moon”, “Waiting”, “The Bell”, “The death of Ophelia”, “Moonlight”, “Sadness”, “The song of those who set sail upon the sea”. The song cycle “Mélodies Persanes” (1870) became a worthy continuation of previous successes. C. Saint-Saëns turned to the collection of poems “Les Nuits Persanes” (1870), created by his friend A. Renaud (1836–1895). Each of the six mélodies (“The Breeze”, “Empty Splendor”, “The Lonely Woman”, “Sword in Hand”, “In the Graveyard”, “Spinning”) is dedicated to a particular person – P. Viardot, M. Trélat, A. Holmès, H. Regnault, E. Jadin, L. Pagans. In the spring of 1891, C. Saint-Saëns decided to rework the song cycle. At the request of the composer, A. Renaud wrote a scenario for new version. The score was created in Algeria from November 21 to December 16, 1891. In addition to two soloists (contralto, tenor) and a symphony orchestra, a choir and a narrator were included into the score. The new work was called “Nuit Persane” ор. 26-bis and actually became a cantata, despite the absence of a genre designation on the title page of the score. From the very beginning, the features of the plot were laid in the “prototype” – the song cycle op. 26. In our opinion, it was the reason for the processing into a cantata, and not into a orchestral setting, like “Summer Nights” (1841) by H. Berlioz, or “Songs of a Wayfarer” (1884–85) by G. Mahler. Soon after the Cantata was written, some its fragments were performed at the concert on February 14, 1892 (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris) conducted by Édouard Colonne. The performing was so good that the work was repeated the following week. The orchestral and piano scores were printed in 1893–1894; these editions were decorated with exquisite illustrations by G. Clairin, C. Saint-Saëns’s friend. The cantata was fully performed on January 3, 1897 by the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. The critics and the audience took it very favorably. The cantata includes five of the six romances of “Mélodies Persanes” (without “Empty Splendor”, but with partial use of this musical material), and two new movements (“Flight” and “Swans”). Therefore, a total of seven movements were formed into four parts. Each part is preceded by the orchestral prelude with the narrator telling about the upcoming events. Conclusion. The cantata “Nuit Persane” combines emotional spirituality with the compositional skill, which made it possible to achieve significant expressiveness with a fairly economical use of musical means. The leading constants of C. Saint-Saëns’ style are clearly revealed in the sophistication of the writing, variety and detail of the design of this score. Regarding the specific melodic-harmonic, modal, rhythmic elements, the analysis of the work revealed a fairly dosed use of them, that testifies a moderate tribute to orientalism. As a result, there was a musical narrative about the events in the East, but still on behalf of the European C. Saint-Saëns.

Naples in the last thirty years of the eighteenth-century was characterized by a fervent climate of theatrical experimentation. Although too often viewed as the last stronghold of Metastasian dramatic principles and traditions, the city was deeply influenced by the “reform culture” of Northern Europe. These exterior influences were bolstered by the contributions of local practitioners, whether composers, performers, and theorists. This essay is a brief consideration of how the ideas of “reform culture” affected contemporary Neapolitan theatrical practices and the emergence of new works in the city. A critical source for “reformed” theatrical philosophy was the work of Antonio Planelli (1747–1803), whose treatise Dell’opera in musica (1772) is a significant exploration and commentary on the dramatic stage of the Bourbon capital. Progressing from theatrical philosophy to existing practice, I will consider how the prevailing conditions animated the creation of the largely unknown cantata/pastorale/opera, La pietà d’amore (1782) by the singer, composer, and Calzabigi protégé Vito Giuseppe Millico (1737–1802), created expressly for Naples under the sway of reform principles and his direct collaborations with the poet of Orfeo, Alceste, and Paride ed Elena. My study concludes with an examination of the emergence of the so-called “Lenten tragedy” or azione sacra per musica, a theatrical form created in the exclusive environs of the Teatro di San Carlo, the royal theater of the Bourbon capital, yet imparting a new theatrical aesthetic and modes of representation for contemporary sacred genres consistent to select ideals of reform culture.

Relevance of the study. Postmodern genre pluralism, including in sacred musical creativity, has increased the interest of scientists in church genres that have recently been on the margins of musicological science, namely those that were not based on canonical texts, but relied on the paraliturgical tradition. Among them, let us pay attention to the rite of the Way of the Cross (via crucis), which for a long time was in the shadow of canonical genres, but in the period of modernism and especially in postmodern times, due to mobility, it turned out to be relevant for the creative searches of contemporary masters. The first artistic example—«Via crucis» by F. Liszt, created at the end of the 19th century, laid the foundation for the genre of the Way of the Cross, and therefore deserves the primary attention of scientists. No less important are works that not only continue the genre tradition, but also rely on the Lisztian model invariant. In this context, the iconic composition is «Via crucis» by S. Vagnini, written at the turn of the millennium. Both works are connected not only by belonging to the genre invariant, but also by the originality of approaches to the passion narrative underlying the rite, so this aspect is central in the comparative analysis of these compositions that are significant for European religious music.
 The purpose of the article is to reveal the temporal aspect of the deployment of the passion narrative in the compositions «Via crucis» by F. Liszt and S. Vagnini and to elucidate the artistic and dogmatic-theological potential of temporal shifts in the passion narrative.
 The methodological basis of the article are the historical, cultural and comparative methods, which made it possible to single out the Way of the Cross from other passion genres and to carry out its typology. Musical-liturgical and theological-hermeneutic analysis made it possible to identify the features of the embodiment of the passion narrative in the works of «Via crucis» by F. Liszt and S. Vagnini, to prove that temporality as a category outlining the linearity or non-linearity of the storyline deployment can become a factor in the formation of new meanings—artistic and theologicaldogmatic.
 The results and conclusions. A typology of the musical-liturgical genre of the Way of the Cross has been created: a genre invariant (a work of cantata-oratorio type with a developed instrumental and minimized verbal component) and two variants —instrumental and cantata-oratorio with a sprawling and detailed storyline —has been identified. The genre invariant, represented by the work «Via crucis» by F. Liszt (1879) and the modular oratorio of the same name by S. Vagnini (1997), turned out to be the most mobile and open to experiments. Both works are notable for the temporal decision in the unfolding of the passionate narration, which is unconventional for sacred music. F. Liszt violates the linearity of the passionate narrative, based on fourteen episodes of the rite of the Way of the Cross, choosing for a number of parts of his «Via crucis» verbal texts that are temporally inconsistent with the content of the events described. Of particular importance in the composer’s work is the medieval sequence Stabat mater, which serves as a marker of the presence of the Mother of God in the storyline of the Way of the Cross. In «Via crucis» by S. Vagnini, who in his composition focused on Liszt’s work, temporal non-linearity becomes the basis of a parallel storyline of the Mother of God. Temporal shifts and double (parallel) narrativity in the works of F. Liszt and S. Vagnini become a form of conveying theological truths, namely, in a special and visual way they emphasize the role of the Mother of God in the Salvation history.

In November 1874, the Melbourne Philharmonic Society (MPS) premiered a new sacred cantata, Adoration, as part of their subscription concert series at Melbourne's Town Hall. The composer, Austin T. Turner, lived in Ballarat, Victoria, and had come to Melbourne to conduct the premiere of his work, using the Melbourne Philharmonic's available force of three hundred performers. Turner was well qualified for the task, being known within the musical community as an organist, singing instructor and conductor of Ballarat's Philharmonic and Harmonic societies since 1864. Programmed for the second half of the concert, and following on from Beethoven's First Symphony and Mass in C, Adoration was certainly an ambitious project, consisting of thirty numbers divided into two broad sections. The text was based on the Psalms with some original words by Turner himself and some borrowed from the Hallelujah chorus in Beethoven's Mount of Olives. The music was described, with some commendation, as having a ‘kind of power about it’, although not being particularly individual or showing ‘a new turn of thought, either in the invention of his melodies, or the construction of his harmonies’. Turner demonstrated an ‘affluent mind in music’, as evidenced by his ability to keep his parts moving; perhaps a little too much according to the Argus critic, who found one or two simpler numbers ‘a great relief in the midst of the kaleidoscope combinations of sound in which in this composition he has revelled’. References in the style of known composers gave the work merit, the music partly reminiscent of ‘Haydn, of Beethoven, of Handel, of Mendelssohn, Arne, Purcell, and others … and in so far as it does this it is a worthy composition’. The Melbourne Age reviewer also assured readers that the work contained many genuine moments that ‘even the greatest composer need not be ashamed’, again citing the works of Beethoven and Mendelssohn as principal models for inspiration.

The ideological sources and origins of the issues of values in European culture at the beginning of the 20th century became the basis of this study. It is noted that the challenges regarding the specifics of the existence of value orientations were raised by neo-Kantian philosophers, in particular by Heinrich Rickert. Attention is focused on the priority role of art and music in the formation of artistic values, as well as on their aesthetic, ethical, psychological, pedagogical influence and on the creation of the ground for artistic dialogues in cultural life. The idea of value as a form of affirmation of human nature is substantiated in terms of the fundamental basis necessary for universal human culture. The content and functions, which include general cultural values: truth, beauty, good, as well as aesthetic: catharsis, kalokagathia, aura, based on the achievements of European musical art, are revealed by the author in the context of personal creativity. It is indicated that value relations are always emotional, connected with feelings of direct joyous delight, surprise; values always have a certain sacred mode, act as a shrine. It is emphasized that art in general and musical art in particular are closely related to moral and ethical guidelines, with the understanding that the concept of love in the structure of an aesthetic relationship acts as its concretization. Using the example of one of the earliest works of the composer Myroslav Skoryk (the cantata "Spring" based on a poem by Ivan Franko), it is demonstrated that the artistic material is imbued with a sensitive, joyful and loving perception of the surrounding nature; an open, trusting attitude to the surrounding world, which is generally a characteristic feature of art, especially modern art. The article examines the creative heritage of the Ukrainian artist as a carrier of valuable expression of Ukrainian culture, its intertextual, avant-garde character. It is proved that in the works of M. Skoryk, national values are organically combined with universal values.

Our article is devoted to a detailed historical, linguistic, and cultural commentary and a new Russian translation of the song “Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis” from Carmina Burana, a LatinGerman manuscript written in the first quarter of the 13th century. Our research presents an analysis of the topoi and allusions to sacred texts found in this drinking song; it also explores the context of its creation. This song provides the first mention of the fabulous and paradisiacal land of Cockaigne, an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand. In the song the abbot wins a gambling game, and the loser exclaims wafna. The word wafna is a hapax, probably of a German origin, and, according to different scholars and medievalists, it may have different meanings. Due to this mysterious exclamation, “Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis” is frequently reflected in English literature: in the 20th and 21st centuries different authors belonging to “popular” and “high” culture have used this word in their texts. However, in their works the word wafna did not fully correlate with its original meaning, but instead, due to its unique use in the above context, became a kind of marker of “goliardic” themes (primarily in connection with gambling and alcohol). There are several reasons for this. To begin with, the song’s popularity in the English-speaking environment (while apparently not being widely disseminated in the Middle Ages) is explained by the fact that it was among the first translations of poems from Carmina Burana into English by J. A. Symonds in 1884; later, in 1935–1936, it was included in Carl Orff’s cantata by the same name, texts from which were subsequently often read in schools and universities in Latin classes. Moreover, Symonds leaves the word wafna untranslated, which encourages readers to seek their own interpretations and create their own associations, just as English-language writers of subsequent eras continue to do.

Background. Choral work of American composers of the second half of the XX century is characterized by new qualities that have appeared because of not only musical but also non-musical factors generated by the system of cultural, historical and social conditions. Despite of a serious amount of scientific literature on the history of American music, the choral layer of American music remains partially unexplored, especially, in Ukrainian musical science, that bespeaks the science and practical novelty of the research results. The purpose of this study is to discover and to analyze the peculiarities of the historical formation and identity of American choral art of the second half of the twentieth century using the the works of famous American artists as examples. The research methodology is based on theoretical, historical and analytical methods, generalization and specification. Results. The general picture of the development of American composers’ practice in the genre of choral music is characterized by genre and style diversity. In our research we present portraits of iconic figures of American choral music in the period under consideration. So, the choral works of William Dawson (1899–1990), one of the most famous African-American composers, are characterized by the richness of the choral texture, intense sonority and demonstration of his great understanding of the vocal potential of the choir. Dawson was remembered, especially, for the numerous arrangements of spirituals, which do not lose their popularity. Aaron Copland (1899–1990), which was called “the Dean of American Composers”, was one of the founder of American music “classical” style, whose name associated with the America image in music. Despite the fact that the composer tends to atonalism, impressionism, jazz, constantly uses in his choral opuses sharp dissonant sounds and timbre contrasts, his choral works associated with folk traditions, written in a style that the composer himself called “vernacular”, which is characterized by a clearer and more melodic language. Among Copland’s famous choral works are “At The River”, “Four Motets”, “In the Beginning”, “Lark”, “The Promise of Living”; “Stomp Your Foot” (from “The Tender Land”), “Simple Gifts”, “Zion’s Walls” and others. Dominick Argento’s (1927–2019) style is close to the style of an Italian composer G. C. Menotti. Argento’s musical style, first of all, distinguishes the dominance of melody, so he is a leading composer in the genre of lyrical opera. Argento’s choral works are distinguished by a variety of performers’ stuff: from a cappella choral pieces – “A Nation of Cowslips”, “Easter Day” for mixed choir – to large-scale works accompanied by various instruments: “Apollo in Cambridge”, “Odi et Amo”, “Jonah and the Whale”, “Peter Quince at the Clavier”, “Te Deum”, “Tria Carmina Paschalia”, “Walden Pond”. For the choir and percussion, Argento created “Odi et Amo” (“I Hate and I Love”), 1981, based on the texts of the ancient Roman poet Catullus, which testifies to the sophistication of the composer’s literary taste and his skill in reproducing complex psychological states. The most famous from Argento’s spiritual compositions is “Te Deum” (1988), where the Latin text is combined with medieval English folk poetry, was recorded and nominated for a Grammy Award. Among the works of Samuel Barber’s (1910–1981) vocal and choral music were dominating. His cantata “Prayers of Kierkegaard”, based on the lyrics of four prayers by this Danish philosopher and theologian, for solo soprano, mixed choir and symphony orchestra is an example of an eclectic trend. Chapter I “Thou Who art unchangeable” traces the imitation of a traditional Gregorian male choral singing a cappella. Chapter II “Lord Jesus Christ, Who suffered all lifelong” for solo soprano accompanied by oboe solo is an example of minimalism. Chapter III “Father in Heaven, well we know that it is Thou” reflects the traditions of Russian choral writing. William Schumann (1910–1992) stands among the most honorable and prominent American composers. In 1943, he received the first Pulitzer Prize for Music for Cantata No 2 “A Free Song”, based on lyrics from the poems by Walt Whitman. In his choral works, Schumann emphasized the lyrics of American poetry. Norman Luboff (1917–1987), the founder and conductor of one of the leading American choirs in the 1950–1970s, is one of the great American musicians who dared to dedicate most of their lives to the popular media cultures of the time. Holiday albums of Christmas Songs with the Norman Luboff Choir have been bestselling for many years. In 1961, Norman Luboff Choir received the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus. Luboff’s productive work on folk song arrangements, which helped to preserve these popular melodies from generation to generation, is considered to be his main heritage. The choral work by Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) – a great musician – composer, pianist, brilliant conductor – is represented by such works as “Chichester Psalms”, “Hashkiveinu”, “Kaddish” Symphony No 3)”,”The Lark (French & Latin Choruses)”, “Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide)”, “Mass”. “Chichester Psalms”, where the choir sings lyrics in Hebrew, became Bernstein’s most famous choral work and one of the most successfully performed choral masterpieces in America. An equally popular composition by Bernstein is “Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers”, which was dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy, the stage drama written in the style of a musical about American youth in searching of the Lord. More than 200 singers, actors, dancers, musicians of two orchestras, three choirs are involved in the performance of “Mass”: a four-part mixed “street” choir, a four-part mixed academic choir and a two-part boys’ choir. The eclecticism of the music in the “Mass” shows the versatility of the composer’s work. The composer skillfully mixes Latin texts with English poetry, Broadway musical with rock, jazz and avant-garde music. Choral cycles by Conrad Susa (1935–2013), whose entire creative life was focused on vocal and dramatic music, are written along a story line or related thematically. Bright examples of his work are “Landscapes and Silly Songs” and “Hymns for the Amusement of Children”; the last cycle is an fascinating staging of Christopher Smart’s poetry (the18 century). The composer’s music is based on a synthesis of tonal basis, baroque counterpoint, polyphony and many modern techniques and idioms drawn from popular music. The cycle “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, created by a composer and a pianist William Bolcom (b. 1938) on the similar-titled poems by W. Blake, represents musical styles from romantic to modern, from country to rock. More than 200 vocalists take part in the performance of this work, in academic choruses (mixed, children’s choirs) and as soloists; as well as country, rock and folk singers, and the orchestral musicians. This composition successfully synthesizes an impressive range of musical styles: reggae, classical music, western, rock, opera and other styles. Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) was named “American Choral Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts (2006). The musical language of Lauridsen’s compositions is very diverse: in his Latin sacred works, such as “Lux Aeterna” and “Motets”, he often refers to Gregorian chant, polyphonic techniques of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and mixes them with modern sound. Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna” is a striking example of the organic synthesis of the old and the new traditions, or more precisely, the presentation of the old in a new way. At the same time, his other compositions, such as “Madrigali” and “Cuatro Canciones”, are chromatic or atonal, addressing us to the technique of the Renaissance and the style of postmodernism. Conclusions. Analysis of the choral work of American composers proves the idea of moving the meaningful centers of professional choral music, the gradual disappearance of the contrast, which had previously existed between consumer audiences, the convergence of positions of “third direction” music and professional choral music. In the context of globalization of society and media culture, genre and stylistic content, spiritual meanings of choral works gradually tend to acquire new features such as interaction of ancient and modern musical systems, traditional and new, modified folklore and pop. There is a tendency to use pop instruments or some stylistic components of jazz, such as rhythm and intonation formula, in choral compositions. Innovative processes, metamorphosis and transformations in modern American choral music reveal its integration specificity, which is defined by meta-language, which is formed basing on interaction and dialogue of different types of thinking and musical systems, expansion of the musical sound environment, enrichment of acoustic possibilities of choral music, globalization intentions. Thus, the actualization of new cultural dominants and the synthesis of various stylistic origins determine the specificity of American choral music.

Despite extensive musicological writings on J. S. Bach’s sacred cantatas, little space is dedicated to the musical portrayal of the Christian doctrine of parousia (παρουσία)—Christ’s return, or second advent. This study considers the parousia concept within eighteenth-century German Lutheranism, contemplating its dichotomous fearful and hopeful interpretations. It also explores its implications for the doctrinal notions of death, judgement, and salvation, among other correlated themes as they appear in Bach’s cantatas BWV 70, 90, and 140. This essay analyzes various renditions of these themes in the cantatas along with their rhetorical and musical rendering, with the intent of distilling Bach’s perspectives of Christ’s second coming.

The aim of the article is to familiarize with the use of fugue and other fugue-type forms in sacred vocal-instrumental compositions of Latvian composers. The usage of fugues and other related forms in the contemporary sacred music genres is predetermined by the historical tradition. Already since the baroque era one of the most important constructive components of sacred vocal-instrumental compositions is fugue. As regards the Latvian music, the fugue has presented itself forthe first time particularly in the sacred vocal- instrumental composition. Namely the Garīgā kantāte (Sacred Cantata, 1887) by Andrejs Jurjans. After A. Jurjans other composers have used fugue in their sacred vocal-instrumental music: Viktors Bastiks in Requiem (1979), Romualds Kalsons in oratorium Petrus (1993), Rihards Dubra in cantata Canticum fratris solis (1997), Romualds Jermaks in Requiem (2002), Ilona Brege in Requiem (2010) etc.

The article deals with separate geographically defined places connected with the spaces of national cultural memory. It is alleged that these are "places of memories" that became centers of cultural and spiritual life of Ukrainians outside Ukraine. It is stated that for the Ukrainians of Galicia, Vienna remained a "memorable place" during the nineteenth century. As the main city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna was a model for imitation and contributed to the expansion of social structures in Galicia, which became the means of organizing here artistic life. The concept of the "topos of Vienna" is considered through the prism of the categories of sacred / profane, as a sacred music city, associated primarily with the name of VA Mozart. The author analyzes the cantata "The Testament" of Verbytsky, written on the text of the eponymous verse by T. Shevchenko. The composer sought appropriate musical expressions outside the national sphere, so the orchestral introduction to the "Testament" reminds the beginning of the overture to Mozart's "Don Juan", with a particularly sharp dynamic contrast, which symbolizes two worlds - the dead and the living. The influence of Mozart on the creativity of the composers of the Przemysl School is due to their particular attitude to the tradition. After all, Mozart was for them the embodiment of the high classical canon, and not just classicism as a style. It is noted that the Austrian military coloured entertaining music was directly related to the work of M. Verbytsky. The composer used elements of military musical rhetoric in his orchestral works. It is alleged that for the Galician musicians of the last quarter of the nineteenth century exemplary was the work of F. Schubert. An example of such influence is the song by O. Nyzhankivsky "The Past of the Year of Youth" by the words of T. Shevchenko. A model for the composer could be the song of Schubert "Premonition of a Warrior" from his last cycle "Swan Singing". The basis of the work is the contrasting comparison of two figurative spheres: gloomy foreboding and light memories. The article also examines the period of Viennese fin-de-siecle and its influence on the work of S. Lyudkevych. It is noted that the characteristic signs of fin-de-siecle are present in the Caucasus symphony cantata. After all, it combines the spirit of Wagner's greatness with the indisputable optimism of Bethoven's "Ode to Joy".