Polish church songs - Easter tropes

The article notes that Gregorian chant had a special influence on the emergence and development of Polish liturgical hymns. Crucial for the development of Easter hymns was the appearance in the church liturgy of the so-called troparas, i.e. short phrases or whole sentences that supplement the original liturgical texts, which are considered the primary source of religious hymns in national languages. The oldest Polish sources on this topic date back to the 14th century. It has been noted that the custom of singing Polish Easter songs during the procession of the Resurrection of Christ dates back to the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The oldest of them is «Wstałzmartwych Кrół nasz, Syn Boży». Its melody coincides with the Latin trope Triumphat Dei Filius or Rex Christe primogenite. According to the conclusions of the prominent Polish medievalist Fr. Jerome Feicht, this song, although it is a jubilee song of the Cum rex gloriae, is not a chorale but a melody of folk origin from the territory of modern France or southern Germany. The Easter sequence Victimae paschali laudes, without the Polish text, is considered. A number of songs of Latin origin used in the German and Polish versions are studied. As a result, it is noted that the presented Easter troparions are evidence of the oldest Polish Easter songs that were performed during the Resurrection rite. They are proof of the extent to which Gregorian melodies penetrated the consciousness of the Poles and had a huge impact on the development of religious musical culture. Key words: Easter, troparion, sequence, chant, Polish Easter song.