MARIAN HYMNS BY WESTERN UKRAINIAN PRIEST-COMPOSERS MELETIY LONCHYNA, IVAN DUTSKO, AND YOSYF KYSHAKEVYCH: A MUSICAL-ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Purpose. This article aims to analyze the Marian hymns composed by Western Ukrainian priest-composers Meletiy Lonchyna, Ivan Dutsko, and Yosyf Kyshakevych, focusing on their musical-typological structures and identifying connections with local folk-song traditions as well as with European medieval and Baroque chant practices.
Research methodology. The research is grounded in the principle of historicism, which makes it possible to trace the formation and evolution of Western Ukrainian Marian paraliturgical songs over the past two centuries. The study employs analytical and synthetic methods, induction and deduction, as well as structural-typological and musicalstylistic approaches. These methods enable a detailed examination of the origin, poetic features, and musical stylistics of the paraliturgical repertoire.
Results. The Marian hymns of Meletiy Lonchyna, Ivan Dutsko, and Yosyf Kyshakevych preserve stylistic features characteristic of both medieval chant and vernacular folk-song traditions. This genre is marked by Sapphic constructions and strophic patterns typical of traditional ritual and calendar songs. The analyzed hymns are distinguished by predominantly regular time-uantitative rhythms (less frequently, regular accentual ones) and syllabomelodic models built on longer note values compared to folk-song rhythms. In general, they exhibit cantilena melodic lines and two-, three-, four-, or five-phrase musical forms. The modal systems typically feature a wide melodic range, reflecting the harmonic mindset of the composers of Marian hymns.
Scientific novelty. This study provides the first detailed analysis of Marian paraliturgical hymns by Western Ukrainian priest-composers in terms of thematic content, strophic structure, rhythmic organization, melodic characteristics, musical form, modal paradigms, and performance practice.
Practical significance.The findings may serve as a theoretical, factual, and historiographical foundation for the development of general and specialized lecture courses, as well as seminar programs in institutions of higher musical education. Furthermore, they may form a theoretical and methodological basis for subsequent scholarly research on this subject.