Transformations of the Cecilian music reform in the repertoire of a Lithuanian Church organist

Bažnytinės muzikos reforma Lietuvos bažnytinį meną palietė XIX a. paskutiniaisiais dešimtmečiais. Cecilietiškasis judėjimas, iš esmės keitęs bažnytinės muzikos pobūdį, turėjo didelę įtaką vargonų vaidmeniui liturgijoje. 1903 m. paskelbus Lietuvoje popiežiaus Pijaus X bažnytinės muzikos reglamentą Motu proprio, reformą į savo rankas perėmęs Juozas Naujalis pamažu ėmė formuoti naują požiūrį į bažnytinę muziką bei kelti jos meninį lygį. Cecilietiškasis judėjimas menkai galėjo turėti įtakos lietuvybės sklaidai bažnytiniame repertuare, tačiau J. Naujaliui šalyje ėmus platinti tautiniu požiūriu neutralų lotyniškąjį vienbalsį choralą, buvo apribota jau ilgą laiką Bažnyčios vykdoma lenkinimo politika. Mažojoje Lietuvoje gyvavo vokiškos giedojimo tradicijos.Kadangi dar prieš tikrąjį vienbalsį choralą Vokietijoje plito vokiečių XIX a. pabaigos bažnytinių kompozitorių veikalai, lietuviai, imdami pavyzdį, atsigręžė į savo lietuvišką giedojimą, kuris turėjo tvirtesnes šaknis nei lenkiškos ar lotyniškos giesmės.The artistic level of ecclesiastical music played in Lithuania in the 19th century by groups of musicians sponsored by landowners and confessional institutions highly differed from the music played in small towns. In the first half of the 19th century, a rather Wide repertoire of church choirs in Lithuania meant that an organist was required to have appropriate professional competencies. This repertoire was performed in the biggest Lithuanian churches until the end of the 19th century. Meanwhile, in the second half of the 19th century, organists in small Lithuanian parishes would play by ear and not many organists could read notes. After the rebellion in 1863, when the main objective was to preserve Lithuanianism, the Czarist Government started the policy of global Russicism. The qualitative springs of ecclesiastical music remained unchanged until the last decade of the 19th century. Organ playing served not only for accompanying chants but also often trying to create various effects. A slow rise of the level of organist repertoire was influenced by insufficient musical education of organists, reserved structure of parish communities, and the absence of competition. The Cecilian movement commenced in the middle of the 19m century in Europe (in Bavaria, 1867). Its intention was to renew and elevate ecclesiastical music while rectifying the repertoire and excluding the character of a universal performance. The Cecilian movement reached Lithuanian ecclesiastical art and entrenched in the last decades of the 19th century. The impact of German centres of the movement was mainly reflected in Lithuania and Poland. In Lithuania, the Cecilian movement clashed with specific circumstances and at the beginning did not provide any positive results. The reason of a successful rise of ecclesiastical music was a consistent sequence of innovations applied by Juozas Naujalis and the acceptability of forms. After Juozas Naujalis started spreading Latin one-voice chorale in churches, the policy of Polonization was restricted. However, the Cecilian reform suspended the spread of Lithuanian chants, national customs, and ethnographic rituals in the Lithuanian church. According to the regulation of ecclesiastical music Motu Proprio by Pope Pius X (which was announced in Lithuania in 1903), after organ became the only instrument allowed in churches, it had the function of accompanying chants, and solo organ playing was no longer in demand. Therefore, a wide use of register and even their intonation were no longer applied in organ-making craft. The repertoire of ecclesiastical music developed under favourable conditions in Lithuania Minor: as organ culture was particularly upheld in German traditions, the protestant chorale that established here obtained a unique synthesized character, while organists improvised chorales under the themes of Lithuanian folk songs