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  1. 1 Przegląd Muzykologiczny

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  1. 1 Marszalik B.

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  1. 1 2003

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'BESEECH A GOOD DEATH...'. THE TRADITION OF FUNERAL SINGING IN THE VILNIUS REGION ('Upros smierc dobra..'. Spiewy pogrzebowe na Wilenszczyznie)

100%
Marszalik B.
Przegląd Muzykologiczny
|
2003
|
issue 3
109-141
EN
The authoress has carried out field research among Polish communities of Catholic denomination near Vilnius (Lithuania) in 1999-2001. Funeral singing is still a living tradition in this region. The singing is meant to help the soul of the dead attain eternal life and to console the family. The ceremony consists of three phases: night-singing in the house of the deceased, the procession to the cemetery and the accompanying burial, and the funeral dinner. All phases are assisted by a group of 4-15 female or male singers. Each group has either a female or, less frequently, a male leader, highly esteemed in the community, who shapes the repertoire and its succession. However, each funeral repertoire has an indispensable part and some additional songs. The basic part contains, among other songs, songs with the imagined last words of the deceased. The optional songs are performed for the moral inspiration of living witnesses. The funeral repertoire is based mostly on printed or written sources of Catholic or Protestant origin, but as a musical repertoire it functions orally, like folk songs. Funeral singing comprises melodic recitation, melodies based on psalmody, and strophic songs frequently based on modal scales. As a religious repertoire sung away from church, funeral songs can serve occasionally as magic formulas to prevent or bring about death. As prayers, the songs elevate the ceremony. They mediate between heaven and earth. The core of the funeral repertoire beseeches Jesus, His Mother and patron saints for the favour of a good death.
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