Piety and ecclesiastical policy Two works by Benjámin Szőnyi written after 1790 (Hungarian Hallelujah, Holy Music fit for Hungarian...)

Abstract

After 1790, a turning point occurs in the creative career of Benjámin Szőnyi. By this time, he was a nationally known author, his Szentek hegedűje (Violin of Saints) had been widely published, and his Gyermekek Fisikája (Children’s Physics) was at the forefront of the national literature on natural theology. The Patent of Toleration and the accession of Leopold II to the throne opened a new, more favorable era for the whole of Hungarian Protestantism. Szőnyi was also an active participant in the ecclesiastical-political struggles, and in 1791 he was delegated to the Buda Synod; this was the time his influence in religious politics reached its peak. The prospect of an end to denominational antagonisms deeply rooted in history awakens in him a growing hope for the well-being of the whole nation and strengthens a never seen new register in his work. “Magyar halleluja...” (Hungarian Hallelujah...) was published in 1791, dedicated to Gedeon Ráday: the experience of the expanding national community, of which his own denomination had become a member of, awakens in him intense emotions. That is why the blissful joint experience of belonging to our Hungarian homeland, our nation, our Hungarian nation, our sweet homeland repeatedly appears in the poem. He often refers to the works of François Fénelon, one of the main theorists of religious tolerance, who was very popular among the Hungarian Protestants. Its tone sometimes touches on the political poetry of the period. The poetic salutation “Magyarhoz Illő Szent Musika, az az: Istent áldó és imádó Új Énekek, […]” (Sacred Music Fitting Hungarians, That Is: New Songs Praising and Worshipping God) was written on the occasion of the coronation of Leopold II as King of Hungary. (A number of similar Protestant poetic salutations were published all around the country on this occasion.) The tone is similar to the previous work, with the “God of the Hungarians” expression also appearing here. According to the title page, the lengthy poem was sung on 9 January 1791 by the congregation of Marosvásárhely. A copy of the volume was sent to Sámuel Teleki in Marosvásárhely with a hand-written dedication, testifying to the author’s Transylvanian connections.