Edmund Pascha
Edmund Pascha (Páska) (1714 – 6 May 1772) was a preacher, organist, and composer. He used the pen name Claudianus Ostern.
Life
Pascha was born in Kroměříž. Both his given first name and the exact date of his birth remain unknown.[1] In 1731 he was affiliated as a Franciscan cleric novice in Hlohovec, where he took the name Edmund. He studied philosophy in Beckov and theology in Uherské Hradiště, a local monastery that was a part of the Salvatorian province. After ordination, he acted as a preacher and as an organist in monasteries of the Salvatorian province. He also performed these duties in Prešov and Žilina.
Despite his later ill health, he continued to perform in his choir. There is some conflict as to the location and date of Pascha's death. Records exist indicating his death on May 4, 1772, but other records from the Žilina monastery claim he died there on May 6, 1772.
Works
In addition to his work as an organist and choir director, Pascha was also a composer. His compositions of Slovak passionals, pastoral masses, and carols exemplify Slovakian Baroque music, and refer to Slovakian literature. In his musical textbooks he highlighted Christmas folklore and Slovakian folk songs with Christmas and Easter themes.
His extensive musical works include a few textbooks in manuscript. The so-called Žilinský kancionál (ca. 1770) contained two manuscript textbooks. The first was Harmonia pastoralis (Pastierska harmónia), a Latin Slovakian Christmas mass in Slovak, exclusively folk pastorela and carols, and also Latin antiphony Tota pulchra (Celá krásna). The second, titled Prosae pastorales (Pastierske spevy), contained 25 carols for Christmas, New Year. Among them is the carol Do hory, do lesa, valasi.
The best known of Pascha's works is Vianočná omša F-dur (Christmas mass in F Major) from the Harmonia Pastoralis. It is a unique work of the Slovak Baroque and it reflects elements of Slovakian folk-music and shepherd songs. It is notable for its beautiful yet challengine organ interludes, solo duets and vocal trios, which interchange with choir unisono parts. It also features parts for clarinets, flutes and shepherd tubas (tuba pastoralis). These compositions are preserved and interpreted even in present times. Music historians maintain that his Christmas mass, known for its charm, originality, and power, does not have an equivalent in any known Christmas mass (Terray). Musical critics in 1969 called it a "Jewel of Musical Past", a work of extraordinary beauty, which should become a European sensation and a musical bestseller (Vajda).
Preserved are his three passions – prešovský (1770), pruštiansky a žilinský (both 1771), which contain Slovakian responsorial choral passions for four voices. The manuscripts are richly illustrated by the author himself. The words are made up from simple meditations from Baroque poetry. Folk Baroque in carols and pastorelas join with elements of folk musical expressions and shepherd songs, familiar to Pascha. He developed folk elements in melodic, rhythmic and harmonic structure, and also in organ parts. However, his solos and duets have their origin in Baroque, almost reflecting Bach's work. It is possible to find in it elements of older and early Classicist music.
There is unfounded speculation that Pascha was not the author of these cited works; that they were only his transcriptions of compositions by another Franciscan organist, musical composer and copyist Jozef Juraj Zrunek (1736–1789).
Bibliography
- Harmónia Pastoralis – Prosae pastorales. Notated Latin Slovak manuscript with two parts made out in 1770 in Žilina;
- Prešovský pašionál. Notated Slovak manuscript from 1770;
- Prušiansky pašionál. Notated Slovak manuscript from 1771;
- Žilinský pašionál. Notated Slovak manuscript from 1771 in Žilina.
Listed music except Prušiansky pašionál is stored in Literárny archív Matice slovenskej in Martin. Prušiansky is stored in Štátny archív v Bytči.
References
External links
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