PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Velek, Viktor
TI  - Overview of musicological research into the cult of St. Wenceslas
DP  - 2013 Jun 11
TA  - Musicologica Olomucensia
PG  - 125--137
VI  - 17
IP  - 1
AID - 10.5507/mo.2013.008
IS  - 27879186
AB  - The main aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of research into the musical tradition of St. Wenceslas, showing both the objects of researchers' interest at different times, as well as the hypotheses presented. The term "musical tradition of St. Wenceslas" almost always refers to the medieval hymn Saint Wenceslas (the St. Wenceslas Chorale). Undoubtedly, this example of Czech language culture represents the best-known and most important work of the musical tradition, but such a generalization and restriction ignores hundreds of other compositions that have been created over the course of a thousand years, as well as current pieces of music. The St. Wenceslas Chorale shows that, despite continuous interest, certain questions still remain without clear answers, e.g. its authorship, origin, original lyrics, and form of performance. Furthermore, the paper presents a chronological overview of contributions to the research, both in musicology and in related scientific disciplines (mainly literary criticism and history), which have provided musical research with valuable interdisciplinary impulses. They are either studies of a retrospective nature or papers addressing specific problems. Viktor Velek's contributions are collectively included at the end of the text.