Strategies of Time Regulations in the Jesuit Music Cultures of Silesia

Abstract

Silesia in the early modern era is an area with a historically unprecedented role, not only in relation to the tradition of Protestant churches, but also Catholic one. A particularly important cultural player there was the Society of Jesus, which used a variety of cultural strategies in its mission. The present article is a systematic review of these forms of activity, organized according to the chronological units. These time categories correspond to the music–theoretical narratives, to the method of meditation codified in Spiritual Exercises, and also to Ludwik Bielawski’s zonal theory of musical time. It seems that Silesian Jesuits consciously and consistently used the music performances in the religious culture they animated at all levels of these ‘time zones’. Recurrence and periodicity supported the established social habitus and regulated rhythms of the community’s cycles of various religious activities. A natural pretext for this regulation was the liturgical cycle, including new elements to the inherited tradition. Elements of this cyclicity may be found in all forms the of Jesuit repertoire and music genres. The community’s sacred time was measured out with recurrent performances of music repertoire and stage performances, creating together the rhythm of human life.