Our Lady’s Lament (Gospin plač) and the other Holy Week Chants

In the parishes of central Hvar – Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj, and Vrboska – ritual chants rooted in the tradition of Glagolitic singing have been cultivated for centuries. They are performed by male folk singers and transmitted exclusively through oral tradition, closely tied to the liturgical and paraliturgical practices of Lent and Holy Week.

At the heart of this repertoire lies the Our Lady’s Lament (Gospin plač), a chant performed at the stations of the Za križen procession. Its textual source derives from the so-called Osor-Hvar Miscellany of 1533, which contains 723 double octosyllabic verses, while in current practice usually three stanzas (i.e., three double octosyllabic verses) are sung at each station.

The chant is performed by male singers – two kantaduri (lead singers) and three or four odgovoroči (respondents) – in a dialogical exchange: the kantaduri sing the first stanza, the odgovoroči respond with the second on the same melodic line, and after the joint singing and prayer of the faithful comes the third stanza, once again performed by the kantaduri. The melody is built on a series of sequences separated by pauses, through which both the intensity of performance and intonational tension gradually increase. The text, evoking the Virgin’s lament beneath the Cross over the passion and death of her Son, carries a strong expressive charge. The performance is characterized by occasional micro-intervallic shifts, freer rhythmic organization, and singing that produces a distinctive effect of “one voice,” creating a specific sonic color. This structure and manner of performance make the Our Lady’s Lament an exceptional example of Glagolitic monody, blending Western (Gregorian) and Eastern (Byzantine) influences.

Alongside the Our Lady’s Lament, male folk singers perform other chants that shape the soundscape of Holy Week devotion: The Lament of the Prophet Jeremiah, Have Mercy on Me, O God, We Adore You, O Christ, O My People, The Banners of the King Go Forth, O Crucified, Suffering Jesus, and others. Unlike the Our Lady’s Lament, these chants are mostly based on a diatonic foundation, display clearer metrical and rhythmic structures, and are performed in textures ranging from monody to three-part, and more rarely four-part, settings. Each parish has developed its own variants, recognizable by melodic, rhythmic, and textual features, thereby affirming the continuity of oral tradition and the vitality of Holy Week’s musical heritage.

The Sounds of Holy Week Project

Following in the footsteps of the seminal work of Ljubo Stipišić Delmata, who in the mid-1980s made audio recordings and released on cassettes the Za križen repertoire of Lenten and Holy Week chants from the procession parishes, the Sounds of Holy Week project was launched. Its aim is to systematically research, document, and present the richness and diversity of these chants, rites, and customs, which have been transmitted orally for centuries in an unbroken line and in local variants.

The project was initiated and is led by dr. sc. Maja Milošević Carić, assoc. prof., in collaboration with dr. sc. Mirko Jankov, assist., at the Department of Music Pedagogy and Music Culture of the Arts Academy, University of Split (Head: prof. dr. sc. Ivana Tomić Ferić). Students from different departments of the Academy – music pedagogy and culture, music theory, and film and video – are actively involved, contributing through field research, transcription of chants, and audiovisual documentation, in close collaboration with local communities and cultural institutions.

The first phase was carried out in Svirče in 2024, with financial support from the Student Council of the University of Split (fieldwork), the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Jelsa (audio recording), and the Hvar Heritage Museum (publishing). Within the original ritual context, a broader corpus of chants was systematically documented, 17 of which were selected and transcribed into musical notation. At the same time, in order to ensure permanent archival value and a technically consistent sound quality, 13 chants were professionally recorded in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, performed by local folk singers of different generations, with expert technical support from Luki Ljubić (recording) and Sandro Petrić (recording and production). The result is the first volume in the planned series – Sounds of Holy Week: Chants from Svirče on the Island of Hvar (2025) – featuring musical transcriptions based on sound recordings, made accessible via a QR code linking to a playlist available here.

In the following stages, the project will be carried out in the other parishes of the Za križen procession circle (Vrbanj, Vrboska, Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik), with the aim of covering all six localities by 2028. Five more volumes of musical editions are planned, alongside the further expansion of the digital audio archive and the realization of the documentary film cycle Zovit (The Wow). Together, these efforts will create a lasting archive and a representative portrayal of the Passion music heritage of central Hvar, accessible to the local community and researchers, as well as to a wider national and international public.

Audio Recordings: Chants from Svirče

Performers:

Folk Singers of the Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene in Svirče

Božidar Balić (1980), Frane Carić (1951), Jurica Carić (1981), Rado Carić (1994), Marin Lučić (1974), Ivo Milatić (1964), Stjepan Milatić (1957), Danijel Plenković (1989), Robert Plenković (1972)

Our Lady’s Lament was performed by

Kantaduri / Lead Singers: Andro Balić (1990), Jaki Milatić (1998)

Odgovoroči / Responders: Rado Carić (1994), Matej Milatić (1998), Natko Milatić (1993)

Recording: Sandro Petrić and Luki Ljubić

Production: Sandro Petrić

Recorded at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Svirče, on March 26, 2024,

with the support of the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Jelsa