The Musical School of Nectarie Vlahul

As a sequel to previous studies dedicated to protopsalt Nectarie, the well-known representative of church music at Mount Athos, also named "the second Koukouzeles" or the "nightingale of the Holy Mount", the present study offers basic information on a number of Greek and Romanian disciples of his school, collected from a wide range of Romanian mansucripts found at Mount Athos. These manuscripts have been transcribed by Romanian monks, mostly Moldavian, and are to be found in the Athonite archives of the monasteries of Prodromos, Saint George, Colciu, Lacu, Saint Ipatie, Saint Paul as well as in this country, namely in the Romanian Academy Library, the National Library of Bucharest, the Library of the Metropolitan Church of Moldavia and Bucovina and the National Moldavian Archives at Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.

This study also gives a brief presentation of the influence exerted by Nectarie Vlahu's creation, and opens new paths to a more comprehensive understanding of the widespread use the works of the renowned protopsalt enjoyed in the main centres in this country, such as in Bucharest, Iasi or at Neamt Monastery in Western Moldavia and the New Neamt Monastery in Bessarabia (Eastern Moldavia).

It also offers clues as to the spread of the works of the great Romanian protopsalts and psalts from the Holy Mount, e.g. Hieromonk Macarie, Anton Pann, Dimitrie Suceveanu, Iosif Naniescu, Gheorghe Paraschiade, Iosif and Visarion from Neamt Monastery, Nectarie Frimu, Gheorghe Scafaru, etc.

The presence of new representatives of 19th century church music, such as Macarie Lacanu, Gherontie Protopsaltul, etc. is also mentioned for the first time.

To offer this brief presentation of Protopsalt Nectarie's school the author of this paper has investigated about one hundred musical manuscripts, and this groundwork can now be used as a starting point for further research.

Vasile Vasile