Geneza, organizacja i działalność jezuickich burs muzycznych

• Jezuickie bursy muzyczne w Polsce i na Litwie w XVII i XVIII wieku; cz. 1
• Studia i Materiały do Dziejów Jezuitów Polskich; t. 7

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Jėzaus Draugija (Jėzuitai); Jėzuitų muzikos seminarijos; Ugdymo sistema; Muzikinis ugdymas; Abiejų Tautų Respublika (ATR; Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Žečpospolita; Sandrauga; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth); The Society of Jesus; The Jesuit Music Seminaries; System of education; Music education.

ENIgnatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus primarily on the principles that: Jesuits dedicate themselves to the administration of the Sacraments; to preaching; and to intense study and writings. Later, he added to these principles, the education of youth. In the houses of the Society, Ignatius required the necessary silence together with an atmosphere of focused concentration. The members of the Society were to be non-encumbered by anything that would distract them from their work; be it prayer, labor or studies. The first generation of Jesuits already had taken notice to the fact that the singing of the Mass and the chanting of the Office could serve as an important instrument within their mission work. The Rules of the Society prohibited sternly and strictly the development of every type of music within its houses but not upon what took place in music on the outside. The Regulations banned the storage and utilization of musical instruments in the Jesuit houses. This rule remained in effect until the Jesuit Suppression in 1773. From its early beginnings there existed an internal dissension among its members with regard to the strict policies relating to the severe restrictions placed on the use of chant and music and with the practice sessions taking place in their own churches and schools. The Jesuits in Latin America, India and later in the Germanic and Slavonic countries performed extraordinary music in their churches. The Jesuits working throughout many countries in Europe knew all too well their mission could not be successful without the presence of music and chant in their churches.In Poland, the Jesuits soon after opening their schools, commenced with the organization of choirs. Those who sang in these choirs did so during the ceremonies held in the Jesuit churches and schools. This took place independently from the Official Regulations of that time. During some of the performances, which took place in the theatre, some bands played music and sang songs. Those bands were trained and maintained by the Jesuits. Chant was obligatory at the school in the three lowest classes. It was usually taught after the normal structured school classes for one- half of an hour. During their first years one can notice three different ways of bringing resolve to this problem of teaching music and chant in the Polish Jesuit schools. In Braniewo and Wilno it was the Jesuits themselves who originally taught the courses. In Poznan a lay cantor was the teacher from its very beginnings, but, so also, did some Jesuits teach. Sometime near 1580 the teaching of music and chant became the work totally reserved for the lay teachers. The First Congregation in the Polish province took place in 1587. During this time a debate ensued relating to the ongoing development of the Ratio Studiorum. The delegates presented the following statement to the Superior General: “In this province it is vitally essential a dispensation be granted in relation to the subject matter of chant and music. The people in Poland do not frequent nor attend places where there is perpetual silence. Therefore, it seems of immediate necessity in order to avoid great losses among the people that a revocation of those restrictions banning music and chant must be struck from the Society’s documents”. The Polish Jesuits asked for permission to introduce chant and music.As Jesuits schools were on the increase and many students were attending them from the parish and cathedral schools, a new situation arose at the end of the 16th century. The cathedrals and main churches were discovering they had no one to sing in their choir since the students were attending the Jesuit schools. The local authorities tried to force the students of the Jesuit schools to attend church ceremonies and sing. This proved to be a serious obstacle against the student’s studies. The Superior General of the Jesuits, Francis Borja, in September 1565 wrote a letter to Krzysztof Strobell, the Rector of the Jesuit college in Braniewo. In his writing Borja recommends to the Bishop, Stanislaw Hozjusz, to create a boarding school for ten or twelve indigent boys. These boys would chant during the church services and in return the Church would pay for their studies. Superior General Borjas had observed this to be a solution within other countries. This Proposal soon was to become a reality and the Polish Jesuits established at their colleges, boarding schools for the poor. In 1568 the Jesuits opened public schools in Pułtusk. Immediately they began to build boarding schools for boys who were poor. These boys also sang in the Church. Antonio Possevino created a boarding school for the poor in Braniewo in 1582. The students of these boarding schools were impoverished males who lacked the monetary means for basic living let alone for studies. The Jesuits subsidized their studies through moneys obtained from numerous foundations. [...]. [From the publication]

• Edukologija / Education
• Muzikologija / Musicology
• Istorija / History