Review article
https://doi.org/10.56954/bg.18.1.1
Boris Papandopulo’s Poljička pučka misa [Poljica’s Folk Mass] (1983)
Jelena Lučev
Abstract
Boris Papandopulo’s Poljička pučka misa [Poljica’s Folk Mass] was composed in 1983 (forty years ago) in honour of St. Bogdan Leopold Mandić, to the liturgical text from the Ordinary in the Croatian language. The expressions “Poljica’s” and “folk” were based on the reminiscences of Poljica’s liturgical musical heritage and implemented in Papandopulo's complex musical expression. The paper briefly presents the form of the Poljica’s folk mass in relation to the liturgical text and highlights the prominent features of its music language, with an emphasis on harmony and creation of the texture.
The Mass has six movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. Each movement consists of several large formal units, mainly determined by the theological division of the text template, which are shaped by connecting smaller elements, such as sentences, phrases, motives and figures. Overlapping of these elements and interlinking of vocal and instrumental phrases create the unity and indissolubility of larger formal sections. Cyclic form is achieved using texture, harmony, repeating sections and varying basic music ideas.
Composing "in the spirit" of Poljica's church music, he achieves a recognisable sound by frequent changes of harmony between classical four-part harmony, parallel voice leading and various forms of folk two-and-three-voice polyphony. Besides thirds and octaves, he often uses various other types of parallel motions with the leading melodic line, which generate quartal or quintal harmony, harmonic set of pitches stacked in thirds, as well as bichords.
Distinctive formal conception, instability and ambiguity of the key, polytonality, modality, mediant harmony, continuous motion of neo-Baroque music derived from mosaic arrangement smaller formal sections, fostering textual accentuation, the primacy of the horizontal over the vertical component of music and various forms of parallel voice leading, all testify to the skilful synthesis of contemporary efforts of the 20th century of European music and to the lightness of folk melody. The Mass, as the composer himself said after the premiere performance in 1984, may be too demanding for the masses, but it certainly belongs to one of the composer's most prominent works.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
312007
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2023.
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