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Gregorian camps for children
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Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis (Cluj, Romania), founded in 1998, has engaged itself to the ambition of understanding and singing the only musical mother tongue of the Christian-Catholic Church up to now, the Gregorian chant, once again, as a functional liturgical music. These sung words take service rather with cult than with the art of music; singing Gregorian chants is a liturgical activity living through human voice. In our schola, beside professional musicians there are singing people with other professions, too.
  

The Interpretation of the Gregorian Texts and Melodies

Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis interprets the „re-cleaned" repertoire of the European tradition on the basis of the most high-leveled explanation of Gregorian music: the Semiology. In the same time, using semiological morals it gives sound to the Hungarian Gregorian chant, made the common treasure of European culture by such famous researchers from Budapest as Benjamin Rajeczky, László Dobszay, Janka Szendrei.
  

The Gregorian Semiology is the systematising interpretation of the characteristic signs of the earliest documents, the neumes (neuma): it offers an accessible modality to interpretation in finding the connections between the words and the modulation of the melody. Nowadays many gregorianists like Alberto Turco, Rupert Fischer, Berchmans Göschl, Luigi Agustoni, Kornelius Pouderoijen, Godehard Joppich are working with the method of Semiology following in the footsteps of the Benedictine friar from Solesmes, Eugène Cardine. On the Hungarian language area György Béres (living in Vienna) was the one who introduced the semiological view.

Our schola has two "steps":

- the group of young people from the district Monostor (in Cluj) and from other communities performs during the liturgy of the mass pieces of the Gregorian chant every two or three weeks,

- the group of people with musical education, engaged to Gregorian music performs country-wide (Gregorian chants with commentaries), makes people acquainted with Gregorian music, popularizes it, organizes courses and records.

 
  • The Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis organizes introductory courses for people who would like to get acquainted with the bases of the Gregorian chant and for those, who are already familiar with the interpretation of it. Some members of our schola initiate children into the liturgical chant.

  • We organized our first Gregorian camp for children in June, 2001, at Harasztos (Calarasi Turda). Twenty-nine children between ages 7-13 took part at this camp. Its success points out to the fact that it is by all means worth to get children acquainted to the authentical lithurgical chant; thus we can promote efficiently the purification, the ennoblation of the nowadays so dissimilar practice of the Catholic ecclesiastical music.

  • In the past few years our schola has contributed very efficiently to the preparation of the courses of György Béres, organized at Cluj, for teachers and church-musicians who are already on an advanced level from the point of view of the Gregorian chant.

  • Our first recording (CD and MC) entitled Signum Magnum, appeared in 2001. On this recording we offer a sample of almost 60 minutes from the repertoire of the European and Hungarian Gregorian chant from the different holidays and holiday seasons.

  • The Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis is functioning through the Schola Society. Our ensemble is a member group of the Hungarian Choral Association from Romania, its members participate regularly at the courses organized at Pannonhalma (Hungary) by the Gregorian Society from Hungary, at the congresses of the Hungarian Church-Music Society, at ecclesiastical music courses, etc.

     
    The conductor of our schola is Tamás Jakabffy, editor (Keresztény Szó, Catholic cultural monthly magazine) and qualified cantor. He publishes regularly writings and translations with Gregorian themes (he translated into Hungarian - among others - the Gregorianistical writing entitled The Music of Religious Service of Luigi Agustoni. Base publication: Musik im Gottesdienst, ConBrio Verlagsgesellschaft: Regensburg 1993).

    István Angi, aesthetics professor at the Gh. Dima Music Academy from Cluj is also a member of our schola. He published studies on Gregorian themes in the Keresztény Szó: A gregorián ének ne legyen szép (?) [The Gregorian Chant Should Not Be Beautiful (?)] (1999/11.), Gregorián a gregorián után [Gregorian after Gregorian] (2000/3, 2000/4.), A magyar gregorián pirkadó reneszánsza [The Dawning Renaissance of the Hungarian Gregorian Chant] (1993/4.), Test és lélek zeneisége [The Musicality of Body and Soul] (1996/6.), Vázlat a mise-tételek esztétikájához [A Scheme to the Aesthetics of the Mass-Movements] (1994/1, 1994/2.), Kyrie eleison (1994/4.), Gloria in excelsis Deo! (1994/6.), Credo in unum Deum (1994/7.), Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus (1994/8.), Agnus Dei (1994/9.), Ha második zenei anyanyelvünket is elveszítjük [If We Lose Our Second Musical Mother Tongue, Too] (1998/3.)

  • EUROPA NOSTRA AWARD 1998

    The Calvary church from Cluj, district Monostor (which gave Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis its name) was built on the place of the once famous Benedictine abbey, thus in its spirituality – even if not in its continuity – it is the memorial place of the mediaeval education. The church renovated in the ‘90s has received an Europa Nostra Award.

    Many regard the deep sonority of the male choir and the „athmosphere of monasteries" as the only becoming and authentic setting for the Gregorian chant. We do already know that it was exactly the alteration or consonance of high and low tones that characterized most the typical mediaeval performance of the Gregorian chants. Male voices were generally combined with children’s voices, and children sang perhaps more often alone, without being accompanied by male choir than the latter without children’s voices.
    The numerous women congregations of the Middle Ages were also singing the same kind of music; keeping this in mind women’s performance should not be dismissed as unauthentic, either. Moreover, available data bear evidence of the mediaeval practice of singing Gregorian chants by a combination of male and female voices. Their twentieth century performance can hardly do without the typical sound effect of mixed voices, particularly if certain larger items are performed. We are at a loss to invoke the mediaeval liturgy sung with alternate roles under the present conditions unless we vary within the 15 or 20 minute cycle smaller and larger ensembles, low and high or mixed voices, solo and full choir –not in a fancy disorder but according to a premeditated sequence, paying constantly heed to the regularities of the genre.

    (J. Szendrei – L. Dobszay – B. Rajeczky: Magyar Gregoriánum, Preface)

    Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis
    Repertorium
     
    Thesaurus cantus gregoriani, Europa
     
    GRADUALE TRIPLEX (GT, Solesmes 1979)
    OFFERTORIALE TRIPLEX (OT, Solesmes 1985)
    ANTIPHONALE MONASTICUM (AM, Solesmes 1934)
    PROCESSIONALE MONASTICUM (PM, Solesmes 1893/1983)
    LIBER HYMNARIUS (LH, Solesmes 1983)
    PSALTERIUM MONASTICUM (PsM, Solesmes 1981)
    János Mezei, KORAI POLIFÓNIA (Budapest 1997)
    LIBER USUALIS (LU, Tournai 1964)

     

     
    Cantica gregoriana hungarica
     
    László Dobszay, AZ ANTIFONA (Budapest 1995)
    LATIN-MAGYAR NAPPALI ZSOLTÁROSKÖNYV – DIURNALE (Budapest-Gödöllő 1999)
    Benjamin, Rajeczky, MELODIARIUM HUNGARIAE MEDII AEVI. I.Hymni et Sequentiae (Budapest 1956)
    Janka Szendrei – László Dobszay – Benjamin Rajeczky, MAGYAR GREGORIÁNUM (Budapest 1981)*
    Janka Szendrei, A RESPONSORIUM (Budapest 1995)
    Janka Szendrei, AZ ALLELUJA (Budapest 1995)

     

  • Antiphonary of the church of Várad, late 15th c.
  • Polyphonic fragment from Kassa, late 15th c.
  • Polyphonic fragment from the era of king Sigismund, early 15th c.
  • Bakócz Graduale, 15th/16th c. Esztergom/Strigonium.
  • Graduale of F. Futaki, middle 15th c.
  • Graduale from Pata, middle 16th c.
  • Antiphonary from Buda, late 15th c.
  • Antiphonary from Pozsony, 15th c.
  • Missale Notatum from Esztergom, early 14th c.
  • Pauline Antiphonary, late 15th c.
  • Antiphonary of Osvát Thuz, late 15th c.
  • Missale Notatum from Zagreb, early 13th c.
  • Passional from Esztergom, late 15th c.
  • Pauline Processional Book from Újhely, 17th c.
  • Psalterium from Buda, late 15th c.
  • Sequence detached from the end of source MNot.
  •  

    Public performances, courses
    (selected list)
     
    2010
    22.1. Liturgical service in the Evangelic Church from Cluj, within the Eccumenical Celebration of the Day of the Hungarian Culture
    31.1. Liturgical service in the St. Michael's Church from Cluj
    21.2. Liturgical service in the Calvary Church from Cluj
    13.3. Liturgical service in the St. Augustine Church from Miercurea Ciuc
    14.3. Liturgical service in the St. Nicholas Church from Odorheiu Secuiesc

    2009
    22.3. Liturgical service in the Calvary Church from Cluj
    22.3. Liturgical service in the St. Michael's Church from Cluj
    18.4. Liturgical service and concert within the National Meeting of Catholic Students in the Roman Catholic Cathedral from Alba Iulia
    9.5. Concert in the Piarist Church from Carei
    10.5. Liturgical service and concert in the Franciscan Church from Căpleni
    10.5. Concert in the Roman Catholic Church from Tăşnad
    14.6. Liturgical service in the Roman Catholic Church from Dâmbul Rotund in Cluj
    8.7. Concert within the Conference of Ecclesiastical Collections' Workgroups in the Roman Catholic Cathedral from Alba Iulia
    11-12.7. Liturgical service at Izvoru Mureşului
    27.9. Liturgical service at Cozmeni and at Odorheiu Secuiesc
    25.10. Concert within the opening ceremony of the centenary exhibition in the memory of the Transylvanian bishop Antal Jakab, in the Calvary Church from Cluj
    28.11. Liturgical service and concert in Reghin, at the Catholic Parish Church
    3.12. Quo Vadis, Musica Sacra? - Advent Concert with the collaboration of church musicians from Cluj, in the Evangelic Church from Cluj
    13.12. Liturgical service in the Calvary Church from Cluj
    13.12. CD release concert with Erich Türk, in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church from Sibiu

    2008
    9.3 Liturgical service in the St. Michael Church from Cluj
    14.7. Concert at Şumuleu Ciuc within the Festival of Old Music
    2.11. Liturgical service in Chinteni
    9.11. Liturgical service in the Calvary Church from Cluj
    7.12. Liturgical service in the Roman Catholic Church from Cavnic
    14.12. Liturgical service in the Franciscan Church from Turda

    2007
    17.3. Liturgical service and concert at Arad in the Minorite Chuch17.3. Liturgical service and concert at Arad in the Minorite Chuch
    18.3. Liturgical service at Timişoara II. - Fabric in the Roman Catholic Church
    20.5. Liturgical service in the Calvary Church from Cluj: Caetano Carpani (18th century): Missa in F
    23.6. Liturgical service at Izvoru Muresului
    24.6. Liturgical service Eremitu
    14.7. Concert at Bicfalău
    15.7. Guillaume de Machaut: La Messe de "Nostre Dame" - concert at Şumuleu Ciuc within the Festival of Old Music
    31.7. "Introduction to the Gregorian Chant" - performance in Someşul Rece within the CE Intellectual Camp
    6.9. Liturgical service and concert within the 3rd European Ecumenical Meeting at Sibiu
    21.10. Liturgical service within the worship in the memory of the Hungarian revolution from 1956, in the Evangelical Church from Cluj
    18.11. Liturgical service within the closing mass of the Saint Elisabeth year, in the Catholic Church from Aiud
    8.12. Concert at Sfântu-Gheorghe, in the Reformed Church from Lăcrămioarei street, within the Chamber Choir Festival
    9.12. Liturgical service at Sighişoara, in the Roman Catholic Church
    9.12. Liturgical service at Târgu Mureş in the St. John the Baptiser church
    16.12. Concert within the Choir Meeting at Cluj, in the Reformed Church from Cluj-Mănăştur

    2006
    4.2. Cluj, Unitarian Church: contribution in the celebration of the Day of the Hungarian Culture
    7.4. Cluj, Unitarian Church: The Passion of Jesus Christ (from Mihály Kozma’s Passion Play, 1747) – CD-presentation
    7.5. Budapest, workshop and liturgical service in the church from the Szervita Place
    6–7.7. Liturgical service in Satu Mare at the Diocesan Ministerial Days (vesper and holy mass)
    17–27. 8. 7th Gregorian Summer Camp for children at Izvoru Muresului
    23–24. 9. Liturgical service at Oradea within the "HÁLÓ" meeting (St. László Church, Franciscan Church)   
    2. 11. Concert at Şimleul Silvaniei within the 1956 Memorial Festivity
    9. 12. Concert at Bucharest in the Italian Church within the "Medieval Praxis" Festival of Old Music
    10. 12. Concert and liturgical service at Sfântu-Gheorghe within the Chamber Choir Festival 
    2005
    13.5. Târgu Mureş, Bernády House, D. Scarlatti: Mass in a Minor – Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei – the quartet of the schola
    22.5. Cluj, Piarist Church, D. Scarlatti: Mass in a Minor – the quartet of the schola with Zsolt Garai
    7.2. Vác (Hungary): concert within the 3rd International Festival of Gregorian Music
    5–15.7. 6th Gregorian Summer Camp for children at Tureni
    16.7. Şumuleu Ciuc: concert within the Festival of Old Music
    22.7. Concert and liturgical service at Izvoru Mureşului within the "HÁLÓ" summer camp  
    14.8. Cluj, Calvary Church: liturgical service
    3.9. Concert at Oradea in the Premonstran Church
    4.9. Liturgical service at  Oradea in the Premonstran Church
    15-16.10. Liturgical service at Tăsnad in the Catholic Church
    27.11. Liturgical service at  Cluj
    10-11.12. Concert and liturgical service at Budapest in the churches from the Batthyány and the Szervita Place
    2004
    24-25.1. Zalău: concert in the Reformed church, liturgical service in the Catholic chuch
    3.20. Concert in Reghin, at the Catholic parish church
    3.21. Liturgical service at Miercurea Ciuc
    27.6.-7.7. 4th Gregorian Summer Camp for children at Tureni
    24.7.-1.8. 5th Gregorian Summer Camp for children at Izvoru Muresului
    28.11. Liturgical service at Cluj
    11.12. Liturgical service followed by concert at Sfântu-Gheorghe in the Catholic church from downtown
    12.12. Liturgical service at Izvoru Muresului and Târgu-Mures
    2003
    21.2. Concert at Cluj, within "Dies Matthiae Corvini", at the franciscan church
    27.4. Sighişoara, liturgical service on the feast of St. Joseph
    29-30.3. Ujgorod, Mukacevo, Beregovo (Ucraine): concert and liturgical service
    18.4. Liturgical service on  Good-Friday in the Dome from Timişoara
    18.5. Concert at Deva in the Franciscans' church
    8.6.. Liturgical service on Pentecost in the Piarist church from Cluj
    25.6.-3.7. The 3rd Gregorian Summer Camp for children at Vlaha
    6-9. 7. CD recording: Emitte Spiritum tuum
    8-10.8. Concerts and liturgical services in Hungary (Gödöllő-Festetich castle, Zsámbék-Baroque church, Budapest-Mátyás church, Nagykőrös-parish church)
    20-21.9. Sibiu, Evangelical church: concert, Catholic church: liturgical service
    4.10. Liturgical service in Gheorgheni
    13.12. Concert at Sumuleu-Ciuc
    14.12. Sfântu-Gheorghe: concert in the Catholic church from downtown
    2002
    16.2. Bucharest, concert
    27.4. Târgu-Mures, concert
    3.5. Cluj, Guillaume de Machaut: La Messe de Nostre-Dame, with the Musica Historica old music ensemble from Budapest
    21-28.6. Leghia, 2nd Gregorian Summer Camp for children
    7.9. Braşov, concert in the Black church
    28.9. Marghita, concert within the days of the town
    12.7. Timişoara, the Dome: concert
    2001
    23.2. Concert within "Dies Matthiae Corvini" in the Reformed church from the Farkas street, Cluj
    10.3. Gheorgheni, concert
    10.3. Concert at the "St. Elisabeth" Home for the Aged from Gheorgheni
    28.4. Concert in the Fortress Church from Târgu-Mures
    18.6. Concert in the Evangelical Church from Medias
    24-29.6. Calarasi-Turda, 1st Gregorian Summer Camp for children
    27-31.8. Gregorian course, Cluj, in common organization with the Hungarian Association for Singing from Romania (lecturer: György Béres)
    22.9. Concert within the "Báthori Days" at the Reformed church from Simleu-Silvaniei
    9.11. Concert at Sumuleu-Ciuc
    2000
    15.1. Concert in Aiud
    3.2. Concert in the cathedral from Satu-Mare
    4-6.2. Satu-Mare, course in the "Scheffler János" pastoral centre
    27.2. Concert within "Dies Matthiae Corvini" in the St. Michael church from Cluj
    26.3. Palestrina: Missa brevis in collaboration with the "Cantilena" chamber choir from Odorheiu Secuiesc (conductor: Major László) in the Calvary church from Cluj
    18.5. Catholic Days, Cluj, St. Stephen antiphona and vesper in Hungarian and Latin
    23-28.7. Gregorian and conductor course, at the "Bethlen Kata" Diaconical Centre and the Calvary church from Cluj (lecturer: György Béres)
    august-november Dej, Turda, Leghia, Alesd
    5.11. Concert in the cathedral from Oradea
    1.12. Reformed College ("Bethlen Kata" Diaconical Centre, Cluj), didactical lecture, lecturers: István Angi and Tamás Jakabffy
    9.12. Alesd
    15.12. Ecumenical Christmas Choir Meeting, Cluj (Unitarian church)
    1999
    28.1. Concert in the cathedral from Satu-Mare
    29-31.1. Satu-Mare, course in the "Scheffler János" pastoral centre
    6.6. Cluj, Guillaume de Machault: Missa de Nostre-Dame
    19.11. Concert within the closing ceremony of the 1st "Theological Days" from Cluj

     

    Gregorian camps for children

    The main purpose of the Schola Association and the Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis choir is to arouse children’s interest and to initiate them in the domain of the authentic liturgical music. The gregorian summer camps for children are meant to help us realise this purpose.

    Beside learning gregorian chants, these children are given the opportunity to gain knowledge from several related domains: religion, history of the Church and of the liturgy, grammar and text interpretation. The schedule of the camp leaves enough time for children to play and make trips beside the daily four hours of learning. During the camp there are several occasions to participate on the liturgical service – this is one of the things the camp prepares children to.

    The teachers and leaders of the camps are members of the Schola Gregoriana Monostorinensis choir.

    Since 2001 the interest for these summer camps is continuously increasing. At the beginning only children from Cluj (Klausenburg, Kolozsvár) came to this camp, but during the years this changed and now children from several other cities come to learn about the gregorian chant (Sibiu / Hermannstadt, Deva, Tîrgu-Mureş / Neumarkt, Budapest).

    Camps:

    2001 – Călăraşi Turda / Harasztos
    2002 – Leghia / Jegenye
    2003 – Vlaha / Magyarfenes
    2004 June-July – Tureni / Tordatúr
    2004 July-August Izvoru Mureş / Marosfő
    2005 – Tureni / Tordatúr
    2006 – Izvoru Mureş / Marosfő
    2008 – Cozmeni / Csíkkozmás

    “Children of any age are highly susceptible to gregorian music. The explanation to this is mainly the fact that the musical ideal of the modern era hasn’t destroyed yet their instinctive inclination towards a totally words-dependent, atonal music with subjective rhythm. […] As a matter of fact, our reason to teach children the gregorian chant is not a religious one: we would like to remedy the deficiencies of the education they receive in schools. One, who is familiarized with the «catches» of the gregorian music knows much more about the bases of music than one, who begins strictly with popular music or the nowadays so much in vogue Renaissance music.”

    (Tamás Jakabffy, Vasárnap [Sunday] July 12th, 2002.)

     

    Recordings
    Click on the pictures!