The reception of post-Tridentine Cantus Romanus in 17th- and 18th-century Hungary

Abstract

As local traditions of the Catholic Church were suppressed in the 17th century, so Esztergom, the ecclesiastical centre of Hungary was deprived of its medieval rite and associated style of Gregorian chant. The place and function of the earlier repertory were assumed by a quite new type of chant, created from earlier curial melodies according to the humanist aesthetics of a new era. This revised repertory was transmitted by post-Tridentine printed chant books emanating from Italian, French and Dutch printers, which became prevalent all over Europe, including Hungary. The editions of the new cantus romanus that have emerged from various Hungarian libraries constitute material hitherto unknown to musical reception research. This study marks an initial attempt to summarize the early findings of a new examination of the sources and answer several questions: Which editions were ordered by which ecclesiastical institutions? How and in what quantities were the editions available? What types of liturgical chant books have survived in Hungarian collections? How can the editions be grouped chronologically? What do the possessor’s notes reveal? How do musical variants in the editions relate to each other?