Krytyka katolickiej muzyki liturgicznej w polemikach i sprawozdaniach z II połowy XVIII wieku
Criticism of the Catholic Liturgical Music in Polemics and Reports from the Second Half of the 18th Century

Summary/Abstract: The process of secularization of music written for the needs of the Catholic Church intensified throughout the eighteenth century, reaching its culmination at the end of it. Particularly susceptible to the influence of secular music was the concertato trend, in which composers very often emphasized elements of the Neapolitan and Venetian styles. Adopting the patterns, which were unfamiliar for sacred spaces, led in consequence to the loosening of the relationship between music and both the significance and the time course of the liturgical action. The escalating crisis of Catholic music provoked a reaction from both the Magisterium of the Church and the secular rulers who were guided by Enlightenment ideas. However, the managed reforms did not contribute to the improvement of the situation; numerous statements by outsiders: publicists, press editors, music theorists and composers are proof of it. They expressed their observations in various types of documents: polemical publications, satires, reports and journals from travels around the countries of Europe at that time. Reading these sources provides valuable information on the real state of Catholic liturgical music at the end of the eighteenth century.

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