Sources of Organ Music Traditions in Lviv

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37835/AMS-2024-17-18-04-2.00

Olena Matselyukh, PhD. in philosophy, Ukrainian organist, soloist of the Lviv National Philharmonic, as well as the Lviv House of Organ and Chamber Music and the Rivne Regional Philharmonic, researcher at the Lviv Museum of the History of Religion of the ANU Institute of Philosophy

 

Half a century long domination of the soviet communist regime in Western Ukraine and the aggressive attitude towards religion on behalf of the ruling party’s officials led to an almost complete destruction of many sacred buildings, their interiors, as well as attributes, among which pipe organs suffered the most. If before the beginning of World War II there were 53 organs in Lviv churches, today there are only four organs remaining among the surviving ones.

The article notes that the tube (pipe) organ is one of the most striking attributes of Latin rituals in Christian churches. Researchers of organ art classify them, depending on their location and use, into sacred and secular ones. The article provides a brief overview of the development of organ art in Lviv and Galicia in the nineteenth century based on the quoted opinions of organ builders listed by the Polish researcher Maciej Babnis in his book Organ Culture of Halychyna and in the Catalog  by Jan Slywynski.

Along with a description of the place and use of the organs, and the peculiarities of their construction, the author assesses the activities of nineteenth-century Lviv organ makers and emphasizes the importance of the reformer of Galician organs, Jan Slywynski, in the achievements of organ culture.

In Ukrainian musicology and organology, the role and significance of pipe organs, the study of their design features and dimensions in the development of the musical culture of Lviv and Galicia require further research.

Keywords: оrganic construction, Lviv, Halychyna, intonation, harmonization, pedal section, Jan Slywinski, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Maciej Babnis.

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