Th e autochthonous element in Byzantine pew singing from the Romanian area in the XVI - XVII centuries

Abstract

A fi rst and precious Romanian contribution to the Byzantine musical heritage of the designated period is contained in the codices from medieval Putna (most of them date from the XVI century). Th e psalters of Putna, led by Evstatie Protopsaltu, developed, through joint eff ort, a special melodic style, recognizable in the landscape of Eastern European Byzantine sound art. Th e songs written or transcribed in Putna (with texts in Greek and Slavonic) stand out for their melismatic luxuriance, the variety of rhythmic structures, the improvisational momentum in the melodic proliferation. Even if it does not bring into the equation phenomena of the scope of the Musical School of Putna, the XVII century makes the decisive turning point towards the Romanization of religious singing of the Byzantine tradition. Among the catalyzing circumstances of the process are: the reforming current coming from the West through Transylvania, the grounding of printing in the Romanian countries, the crystallization of the Romanian literary language, the act of uniting with Rome of a part of Transylvanian Romanians. Th e socio-cultural and identity ferment of the XVI – XVII centuries prepared the spiritual eff ervescence of the Brancovean era and the launch of the fi rst collection of sacred chants with Romanian text - the Romanian Psalticha by Filotei sin Agăi Jipei.