Great musicians in the 19th century at the cathedral of Iasi: Gavriil Musicescu

Abstract

In the Romanian Orthodox Church, for many years, at the initiative of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, each calendar year has been dedicated to a cultural, spiritual, social event or theological subject/segment of theological life. In this sense, the calendar year is intersected by scientific and cultural events organized by the Church, institutions of pre-university and university theological education. These manifestations are realized through symposiums and scientific congresses, concerts and the like. 2023 has been named the Year of Respect for the Pastor of the Aged. A memorable year for hymnographers and church singers (psalts). Without claiming to be exhaustive and taking into account the second part of the general theme, we propose to further highlight the great musical personality of Iasi of the 19th century, Gavriil Muzycescu. The article reveals three hypostases of his activity - a teacher, a choirmaster and a composer. The significant role of Gavriil Muzycescu in the development of Orthodox singing in Romania is noted, the stylistic features of the composer's spiritual chants are analyzed in conjunction with the traditions of the Russian composer school in the field of choral music, as well as their development. On the example of the concert chant "I will proclaim Your mercy", its design features and stylistic signs of belonging to the concert style are considered. It is suggested that the role of the composer in the development of the Orthodox singing tradition is underestimated.