Edmund Pascha (Páska) (1714 – May 6, 1772) was a preacher, organist and composer. He used pseudonym Claudianus Ostern.
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Pascha was born in Kroměříž. His exact date of birth and his first name are unknown. In 1731 he was affiliated as a Franciscan cleric novice in Hlohovec. There he got oblate name Edmund. He studied philosophy in Beckov and theology in Uherské Hradiště (local monastery was a part of Salvatorian province). After ordination he acted as a preacher and an organist in monasteries of Salvatorian province. With certainty we know that he acted this way also in Prešov and Žilina.
Despite his later diseases, he still continued to performed his function in choir. Records about his death on May 4, 1772 exist, but authentic records from Žilina monastery claim that he died there on May 6, 1772.
Edmund Pascha was not only an organist and choir director, but he was also a music composer. By compositions of Slovak passionals, pastoral masses and carols he deserved well of Slovak Baroque music, but also of Slovak literature. In his musical textbooks he kept foremost Christmas folklore and pretentious Slovak folk-songs with Christmas and Easter themes.
From his musical works are preserved a few textbooks in manuscripts. So-called Žilinský kancionál (about year 1770) contains two manuscript textbooks. In the first - Harmonia pastoralis (Pastierska harmónia) - are two Latin Slovak Christmas masses with Slovak, exclusively folk pastorela and carols, and also Latin antiphony Tota pulchra (Celá krásna). In the second one - Prosae pastorales (Pastierske spevy) - are 25 carols for Christmas, New Year and Three Kings and pastorelas. Among them is also known carol Do hory, do lesa, valasi.
The most known Pascha's work is Vianočná omša F-dur (Christmas mass in F Major) from mentioned textbook Harmonia pastoralis. It is unique work of Slovak Baroque. Music historians state that his Christmas mass for its charm, unrepeatable originality and power doesn't have equivalent in any known Christmas mass (Terray). Musical critics immediately in 1969 stated that it is a jewel of musical past, a work of extraordinary beauty, which will certainly become at least European sensation, word for word musical bestseller (Vajda). Its reedition proves it. It reflects elements of Slovak folk-music and shepherd singings. It is noted as organ particel. Well-mastered are also organ interludes, solo duets and vocal trios, which interchange with choir unisono parts. There are also inlets of other instruments - clarinets, flutes, shepherd tubas (tuba pastoralis). This composition is completely preserved and it is interpreted even in present times.
Besides that has preserved his three passionals - prešovský (1770), pruštiansky a žilinský (both 1771), which contain Slovak responsorial choral passions for four voices. These manuscripts are richly illustrated by author self. Text parts are made up from simple meditations. It is a solely Baroque poetry. Folk Baroque in carols and pastorelas joins with elements of folk musical expressions and shepherd singings, which author knew to his cost. He pushed folk elements in melodic, rhythmic and harmonic structure, and also in organ part. Solos and duets, however, have origin in Baroque, almost Bach's music. It is possible to find in it elements of older and early Classicistic music.
There also occurred some not well-founded speculations that Pascha was not author of mentioned works. According to it, they were only his transcriptions of compositions by another Franciscan organist, musical composer and copyist Jozef Juraj Zrunek (1736-1789).
Listed music except Prušiansky pašionál is stored in Literárny archív Matice slovenskej in Martin. Prušiansky is stored in Štátny archív v Bytči.
