The problem of the authorship of the melody of the Polish millennium Te Deum. The retrospective analysis and the present research results

Abstract

The millennium hymn Te Deum has been known and sung in Poland for over forty years. The author of this dissertation presents the complicated circumstances revolving around the creation of this hymn. The inspiration were incorrect notes about the composer of the hymn, which had been published in song-books. In past years it lead people to believe that Te Deum was composed by the priest Antoni Chlondowski. The author, who based his research on that of Maria Wacholc, opposed the idea that the priest Chlondowski had composed the hymn. This article presents analysis of the composing style and the biography of the priest Chlondowski, which contradict his authorship. Next, in the following part of this article the author presented some facts which helped him to find the authentic composers. According to the author of this dissertation the authentic composers of Te Deum were Józef Furmanik and Franciszek Wesołowski. The aim of this article is to emphasize the necessity of the correction of the mistaken information about the composer in the song-books which will be published in the future.

This article has the following structure: Te Deum in the history of the Catholic Church; Polish language version of Te Deum used in the liturgy in the XXth century; Polish millennium Te Deum; The controversy around the authorship of the priest Antoni Chlondowski; The controversy around the authorship of Franciszek Wesołowski; The authentic composers – Józef Furmanik and Franciszek Wesołowski.