EKE Repository of Publications

Bandi, Bálint

Hungarian

Adalékok a kora újkori mezőségi unitárius lakosságú

községek etnikai átalakulásához

Pap, Péter István

Csengey Dénes (1953–1991)

Kicsák, Lóránt

Érték-rend

Boér, Máté

English

Classis Graeca – On an 1785 Translation of Euripides from Transylvania

Kovács, Eszter

145
ESZTER KOVÁCS 
18TH CENTURY SLOVAK NATIVITY PLAYS FROM ZSOLNA1
The Nativity is one of the best- known and  most popular  folk customs alive 
worldwide. The Department of Manuscripts of the Slovak National Library in Martin 
(Slovenská národná knižnica, Literární archív) preserves a volume of manuscripts 
entitled as the “Songbook of Zsolna” (Cantionale Solnensis), which contains the most 
beautiful Slovak-language pieces of this genre from the 18th century:2 two pastoral 
masses by Georgius Zrunek (Harmonia Pastorales, Vianočná omša 1-2), and the 25 
short Nativity or Epiphany plays and carols of Prosae Pastoralis created by Georgius 
Zrunek and Edmund Pascha. All of them are high-quality musical  pieces, , plays, 
and important sources for ethnography. They are alsomost valuable sources  for 
the early Slovak language in the region of Zsolna (Žilina). Not long ago, the two 
Christmas masses and the pastorals were published in a critical edition.3
Both Christmas masses (Vianočná omša 1−2) in Harmonia Pastoralis were 
composed by Moravian Piarist, Juraj Zrunek, who lived in Hungary. However, 
for a long-time, it was  believed that Edmund Pascha, another Moravian Piarist − 
living also in Hungary − was  their author.4 Authorship of Zrunek was evidenced by 
Ladislav Kačic.5
The first mass was composed in Zsolna in 1766.6 It is a monumental ceremonial 
composition. Its performance needed highly qualified musicians, chamber choir, solo 
singers, and an orchestra. The singers were accompanied by an organ and various folk 
instruments, such as bugle (clarina), flute (flauta) shepherd’s pipe (tuba pastorica), 
overtone flute, fiddle, and bagpipes.7
The actors of the play are named Pastor Primus, Pastor Secundus, Angelus 
Primus,and Angelus Secundus, and very often the speaker (singer) is only mentioned 
as Solo. We can conclude from the text that there were, in fact, two Angels and four 
shepherds, named Juro, Jano, Mišo and Ondrej. Jano is the second shepherd, the 
oldest, a comic figure. The author gave no further instructions about this. The solos 
of Pastor primus must have been divided between three characters: Juro, Mišo and 
Ondrej. Other times, only one of them sang, and the others were silent roles. This 
was probably decided by the conductor of the performance.
1 This paper was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of 
Sciences. 
2 Slovenská národná knižnica, Literární Archív sign. XXXVIII/10 Sk-Mms. 
3 Zrunek 2017a; Zrunek 2017b; Zrunek 2017c
4 Terrayová 1987.
5 Kačic 1989, 10; Marosz 2009/2010, 158-159.
6 Marosz 2009/2010, 162. Editions: Pascha, 1987, Zrunek 1993. Zrunek 2017a.
7 Zrunek 2017a, 554−555, 558, 566.
146
In this Christmas mass, the Nativity play is incorporated in the Liturgy. The 
permanent parts of the Mass are in Latin (as it was usual at this time), and the Latin 
text is completed with the Slovak Nativity play texts. The play starts after the Kyrie 
(only the Greek text, without Slovak supplements), and it is incorporated in the 
text of the next permanent part of the Mass, into the Gloria. In this phase of the 
Annunciation to the shepherds, the Angels tell the shepherds the news about the 
birth of the Messiah.  The shepherds first get scared, and they believe that the noise 
is caused by thieves.  They want to chase them away and threaten the unknown and 
unexpected guests with a beating. The Angels  comfort them and tell them the news 
about the new-born Jesus. This part (the Gloria) starts with the duet of the two 
Angels. After a short dialogue between the Angels and the shepherds, they start to 
glorify God together. Finally, the Choir and the whole congregation in the Church 
joins in.8 The turning point is at the line „Qui tollis peccata mundi”.9 Before that, the 
scene  takes place in the fields where the shepherds  tend the sheep, but afterwards, 
the scene changes to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The shepherds 
give  gifts (cheese, sheep, goat) to Jesus and the Holy Family, and they  worship the 
child. This scene ends with joyful  singing and dancing.10
 A next part of the Mass is the Credo. While the choir and (maybe) the 
congregation  sings the Latin Credo, one of the shepherds sings a meditation in 
Slovak about the mystery of the Incarnation and Salvation, and gives thanks for 
it.11 The shepherds give presents to the child again;  this time they bring  plums and 
pears.12 The other meditation of the shepherds during the Credo is about the Last 
Judgment. They recognise their guilt and ask Jesus’ mercy for that day. Finally, they 
dedicate themselves to Jesus and ask for salvation in exchange. The composer put 
great emphasis on the last request by means of wind instruments.13
The Sanctus and the Benedictus are two independent items. Only the Sanctus 
contains Slovak texts within the main (Latin) text. Here, the shepherds sing about 
the beauty of the new-born child and about the earthly and heavenly joy on his 
birth.14 The Benedictus begins  by repeating the first syllable of the text (be-be-be-…) 
for several times; this way, the composer  imitated the sheep bleating in the stable in 
Bethlehem.15
In the last item, (the Agnus Dei) they pray for peace for everyone in the world. 
Finally, the shepherds invite the child Jesus to a feast, offer him delicious food and 
wine (!), and they ask the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph to take care of the child., 
The old shepherd (Jano)  is rocking him, Juro is playing the bagpipe, while the others 
8 Zrunek 2017a, 550−555.
9 Zrunek 2017a, 555.
10 Zrunek 2017a, 558.
11 Zrunek 2017a, 559−560.
12 Zrunek 2017a, 560.
13 Zrunek 2017a, 561−562.
14 Zrunek 2017a, 563.
15 Zrunek 2017a, 564.
147
are singing and saying goodbye with the last sentence of the Agnus Dei: Dona nobis 
pacem.16
The Nativity play is bilingual Slovak and Latin, but the Slovak text is more 
important. The original Latin text has been shortened, but the meaning does not 
suffer. The Slovak and the Latin texts are interrelated even though they have a 
meaning in themselves as well. Even if the author was Moravian, and in this age the 
Czech language was often used by Slovakian authors as well, the language of the  play 
is Slovak. More specifically, the text was written in the dialect of the Zsolna region. 
There are no significant Bohemisms in it.
The second Nativity play is very similar, but somewhat  less complex.17 It contains 
a Choir, soloists, an organ, and some wind instruments (bugle), but there are   not 
as many as in the first mass. According to the text and the director’s instructions, 
there were five soloists, three shepherds and two Angels, a chamber choir (shepherds, 
angels), and the congregation sang the  usual items  included in the Mass. The play 
is incorporated into the Mass the same way as the previous one.
The first difference between them is that in this second Mass  the Gloria is not the 
first item with a Slovak text, but rather the Kyrie is. Here, the Slovak text is profane, 
shepherds sing about the joys of the pastoral life.18 In the region of Zsolna, a lot of 
residents bred animals, particularly sheep; consequently, a significant  number of the 
people who listened to the mass were  in fact shepherds or  they owned sheep. This 
prelude could bring closer these  shepherds to the plot of the play, show them that 
the first visitors of the child Jesus, the main characters of the play, were simple men 
like them,   sharing theirjoy and feelings. Another interesting fact is that here there 
are some Hungarian words with Slovak spelling (juhas, lovas)19 in the Slovak text. 
These words must have been commonly used in the region of Zsolna by the Slovak 
population as well.
The plot of the play starts during the Gloria. The first sentence of this item is sung 
by the two Angels in two voices. The usual action begins after this: the shepherds 
first get scared, the Angels  comfort them and tell them the news about the birth of 
Jesus, then the shepherds rejoice,  find some presents and set out for Bethlehem.20 
Here, the turning point is at the line „Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, 
glorificamus te”.21 From here, the scene is the stable in Bethlehem, the shepherds 
adore the child, give thanks to God the Father for the Incarnation of the Son, glorify 
the Holy Trinity, and pray for the remission of their sins and for eternal salvation. 
During the Gloria, the joy of the glorification is expressed  through dance as well.22
16 Zrunek 2017a, 564−566.
17 Zrunek 2017b
18 Zrunek 2017b, 609.
19 Zrunek 2017b, 609.
20 Zrunek 2017b, 610−611.
21 Zrunek 2017b, 612.
22 Zrunek 2017b, 615, 632.
148
The Latin text is shorter than the official liturgical text of the Gloria, and 
sometimes the meaning is  lost:
For example:  
„Agnus Dei… Qui tollis peccata… Qui tollis peccata…Qui sedes qui sedes… Quoniam, 
quioniam, quoniam tu solus…quoniam…quoniam… Cum Sancto Spiritu. Cum Sancto 
cum Sancto cum Sancto …”23 (Latin text without the Slovak tropes)
The Slovak text sometimes substitutes the Latin: „Qui tollis peccata, odpust naše 
provinieni ”24
Sometimes the Slovak text is a  loose translation of the Latin: 
„Qui tollis peccata, který svieta hrichy snimaš”25
„Domine Deus, Pane všemohucý, Rex coelestis, Krali prežaducý”26
Usually, the meaning of the Latin text is irrelevant. The author focused on the 
Slovak text, which has a meaning by itself. The congregation, the audience was made 
up of simple Slovak-speaking people. They understood the Slovak language, but not 
the Latin, so the Slovak had to be more important.
In the text of the Credo, there are fewer changes or omissions. The author 
interrupts the Latin text only twice; once at the confession of the  creeds about the 
Incarnation and later at the confession  of the Ascension of Jesus. A song of three 
shepherds in three voices about the mystery of Incarnation is inserted between the 
sentences „Descendit de coelis” and “et incarnatus de Spiritu Sancto”27 and a Solo of a 
shepherd, which is very similar to the Solo of the first Mass in the same scene after 
the sentence „et ascendit in coelum”.28 In the name of the whole congregation, the 
shepherd asks the  baby Jesus  to have mercy on the day of the Last Judgement. He 
beseeches the infant to forgive their sins in exchange for their presents. Finally, he 
promises, that they will never sin again. The rest of the Credo is missing, the author 
has kept only the last sentence: „Et vitam venturi saeculi, Amen.”29 After the Credo, 
one of the shepherds says goodbye to the Holy Family, and (in the name of the 
congregation) asks for blessing on their lives and for Salvation after their deaths. In 
the Sanctus, there is no Slovak text, the Benedictus is the same as in the first Mass.
The last item is the Agnus Dei. Here, there are Slovak tropes in the Latin text, the 
same way as in the Gloria:
23 Zrunek 2017b, 613−614.
24 Zrunek 2017b, 614.
25 Zrunek 2017b, 614.
26 Zrunek 2017b, 613.
27 Zrunek 2017b, 616.
28 Zrunek 2017a, 561.; Zrunek 2017b, 617.
29 Zrunek 2017b, 617.
149
partial loose translation of the Latin text: 
„Agnus Agnus Dei / O Beranku tichy / Qui tollis peccata/ Kteri snimaš hrichý”30
Partially independent tropes: 
„Dona danana dona nobis pacem. / Udiel nam pokoj svatý, / Abý bil naš viek zlatý,/ 
Dona/ Však sme dalý, co sme maly,/ Prijmý od nas ten dar malý,/ Az nam vic udieliš, zasej 
sa poziviš./ Ješče dnes naš Ježišku, spomeneš,/ Kde sý našý valašý,/ Co robia na salašý”31
One of the shepherds sings a solo. He presents the requests of the congregation 
(mercy, peace etc.). The others answer him with the refrain: „Smiluj se, slituj se nad 
namý, tvojimi pastiri chudimi!”32 The Nativity play is finished  by the joyful singing 
of the whole  congregation. 
Following the model of these two Slovak Christmas Masses, Zrunek also 
composed two Hungarian Christmas Masses  during the next year. They are very 
similar to their Slovak sources, but they are independent creations, not translations.33
The second part of the „Songbook of Zsolna” is Prosae Pastorales, in which some 
shorter Pastorals and Christmas and Epiphany carols have survived.34 The title page 
of the Manuscript has the following inscription: “Compositae et conscriptae Patre 
Claudiano (Ed.) Ostern (Pa.) Solnae”. Claudianus Ostern was the pseudonym of 
Edmund Pascha. Ladislav Kačic’s research proves that Pascha  recorded the text, but 
the author was Juraj Zrunek, except for the last four items, which were composed 
by Pascha.35
The Prosae Pastorales includes 25 short plays and songs for Christmas, New Year’s 
Day, and Epiphany. The Pastorals are shorts, the stories are simple with two or three 
characters, and sometimes they include a choir. They were probably  performed 
during the Christmas Mass. The first play „Menalka a Damenta” is a dialogue 
between these two shepherds.36 Their names  come from the 3rd eclogue of Virgil. 
The young Menalka is frightened by the appearance of the Angel, but the old, wise 
Damenta explains to him what it means. The dialogue begins in the fields, and it is 
finished at the manger of Jesus. The shepherds pray for the salvation of their souls 
and for protection in this world for themselves and for their herds. The second play 
(Hore, hore pastuškove!)37 is a dialogue between a shepherd and an Angel, completed 
with a choir of other shepherds. It is a classical nativity  play with the same requests 
and presents  as the previous Nativity plays.  They are followed by Christmas carols in 
30 Zrunek 2017b, 619.
31 Zrunek 2017b, 619−620.
32 Zrunek 2017b, 618−619.
33 The Slovak and Hungarian Masses were compared by Diána Marosz and Réka Kővári. Marosz 
2009/2010; Kővári 2013. Edition of Hungarian Masses: Zrunek 2017d; Zrunek 2017e
34 Zrunek 2017c
35 Kačic 1989; Marosz 159. 
36 Zrunek 2017c, 651−653.
37 Zrunek 2017c, 654−657.
150
the Manuscript. They were parts of Nativity plays due to their texts (Do lesa, do hori 
valaši...; Včera sme Bratrove mili, z muziku v Betleme bili...; Divna novina, že Panna 
syna počala...).38 The 6th item is again a traditional Nativity play. It contains the 
classical Annunciation to the shepherds by Angels. The other scene is the Adoration 
of the child by the shepherds, with presents and the same requests (plenty of goods 
in this world, salvation after death). The performance is  typical, having a dialogue 
between soloists, and finally the song by a choir.39 The 7th item (Juro a Kubo),40 
however, is based on a new idea: it is a dialogue between two shepherds. One of 
them (Kuba) missed the Annunciation of the Angels, so one of his mates, another 
shepherd named Jura, tells him what happened. First, Kuba would not believe it. 
He begins to look for a rational explanation: the  bright light was the sign of a fire, 
not of Angels, and their song was in fact a cry for help from the people threatened 
by the fire. At last, Juro persuades him to go to adore the child with him. After 
singing another Christmas carol (Co si nového, neslychaného...)41 a similar Nativity 
begins (Dva pastiri a Mišo [Two shepherds and Mišo]),42 but with three characters: 
a shepherd named Mišo and two of his companions. Mišo is on his way home from 
Bethlehem, when he meets two other shepherds who missed the Annunciation. 
Mišo tells them what happened and teaches them the mystery of the Immaculate 
Conception and Incarnation. He speaks about the Holy Family and about their 
arrival in Bethlehem. At last, they decide to go to Bethlehem, and Mišo accompanies 
them. This is followed by Christmas (Pri Betleme na sallaši, tam jest dobra paša...; 
Vec divná se stala, nam se ukazala... ; Sem hrišnici zarmúcení všeci pospichejte...; Budiš 
pochválen z milosti...; Povim ti novinu, bratričku...; Spí muj sináčku, spi moje ditete... 
), New Year’s Day (Nastava nam dnes rok novi...; Novi rok beži, v jesličkách leži...) and 
Epihany (Co je to dnešní den za znamení?; O díte Bože vtělení...) carols.43
The following plays are supposedly the creations of Edmund Pascha: two choir 
works in two voices (K Horám chaso, k horám...; Novini z Betlehema jiste...),44 a short 
fragment from a Nativity play (Incipit Bača recitativo...),45 a Christmas carol (Nos mi 
Juhasi...)46 and at last, a short play: Jano a Kuba [Jano and Kuba],47 in which two 
shepherds Jano and Kubo talk about the Annunciation of Angels. They explain to 
one another what it means, they visit the child, give him presents, food and some 
clothes, and in exchange, they request salvation.
38 Zrunek 2017c, 677.
39 Zrunek 2017c, 658−661.
40 Zrunek 2017c, 662−665.
41 Zrunek 2017c, 677.
42 Zrunek 2017c, 666−668.
43 Zrunek 2017c, 677.
44 Zrunek 2017c, 677.
45 Zrunek 2017c, 669−670.
46 Zrunek 2017c, 677.
47 Zrunek 2017c, 671−675.
151
Christmas Masses and Nativity plays are extremely valuable compositions not 
only because of their beautiful music and the literary value of the text. They are also 
valuable sources for historical linguistics. Despite the fact that the author is Czech, 
the language of these plays is Slovak. In this age, most printed books for Slovak 
readers in Hungary were in Czech, but the manuscript tradition has preserved for us 
Slovak texts. These plays are very important  because they serve as a rare witness  to 
the Slovak dialect in the region of Zsolna from the 18th century.  Finally, they contain 
a great amount of interesting ethnographical information. For example: the food 
offered by the shepherds to the child must have been the typical food of shepherds at 
that time in that region, uch as dried carrots, fruit, cabbage dishes, cheese, goat meat, 
and mutton. They present a particularly broad range of   musical instruments, which 
must have been used in that region. The requests of the shepherds to the child show 
the  struggles of the people in that region. They pray for good weather, large crops, 
and protection from bears and wolves.  Participating in a nativity play was more than 
a simple  performance for the actors. In the role of the shepherds of Bethlehem, at 
the manger of Jesus, they were praying  in the name of the congregation, the people 
of Zsolna. 


18

th

 century Nativity Plays in Slovak from Zsolna

Ulrich, Paul S.

Almanachs as Sources for Documenting German-Language Theatre

from 1752 to 1918 in over 4000 Cities and Towns

Demeter, Júlia

How to Become an Original Playwright? The Sources of a Drama

(József Katona: Aubigny Clementia)

Onder, Csaba

German

Die Ohnmacht der Heldinnen

Kusper, Judit

Frühromantik auf der Bühne

Hauser, Richárd

Törekvések - lehetőségek. Az új Nemzeti Fejlesztési Terv Regionális Operatív Programjának elemzése

Eszterházy Károly College

Not a member yet

Adalékok a kora újkori mezőségi unitárius lakosságú községek etnikai átalakulásához

Csengey Dénes (1953–1991)

Érték-rend

Classis Graeca – On an 1785 Translation of Euripides from Transylvania

18 th century Nativity Plays in Slovak from Zsolna

Almanachs as Sources for Documenting German-Language Theatre from 1752 to 1918 in over 4000 Cities and Towns

How to Become an Original Playwright? The Sources of a Drama (József Katona: Aubigny Clementia)

Die Ohnmacht der Heldinnen

Frühromantik auf der Bühne

Törekvések - lehetőségek. Az új Nemzeti Fejlesztési Terv Regionális Operatív Programjának elemzése

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