Iš Lietuvos bernardinų muzikinio gyvenimo istorijos
From the history of Franciscans' (The Order of Friars Minor) musical life in Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the development of church music in Lithuania in the late Middle Ages. It discusses the musical activity of the Franciscan order and musical manuscripts from the 15th to the 18th century that were preserved by Franciscan monasteries.Following the arrival of the Franciscan monks to Lithuania from Poland in the mid-15th century, many of their liturgical and musical traditions were absorbed. Alongside with the Gregorian chant, new and original chants were spreading. Among the most famous authors was Wladyslaw z Gielniowa.This article discusses the spread of chants and their translations into Lithuanian. It presents also the earliest-known example of multi-vocal polyphony in Lithuania, Liber generationis, which is based on a fragment from the Gospel According to Matthew. It has been included in the manuscript of liturgical texts compiled in the mid-15th century, which was possessed by the Franciscan monastery in Vilnius. The article discusses the stylistic features of this chant composition.The final part of the article analyses the material that appears in the hymnal of the Franciscan monastery in Trakai. It describes the distinctive features of chant theory in Lithuania and highlights that within the Franciscan context, the old chant theory established in the Middle Ages continued to hold sway well until the early 19th century.

• Details
• Contents