The Treasures of Legnica
Works from the collection of the
musical library of Georg Rudolph, Prince of Legnica and Brzeg
(16th/17th c.)
"No matter if you look at the fertility of the land and methods of its cultivation, at how city walls and defense fortifications are protected, how intricate the buildings are and finally if you look at the multitude of rich fortunes and educational standards of the people, it would not be easy to find in Silesia [...] a town that could prove superior to Legnica."
Mikołaj Henelius
Silesiographia (1613)
The turn of the 16th century was the time of the finest
cultural development of Legnica, a town which was ruled by the Piasts
until the dynasty died out. Legnica was a proud city. Its citizens
adopted the Protestant faith before the middle of the 16th century and
remained loyal to it despite pressure from the Catholic Habsburg
rulers. It was a city which resounded with music. It had a team of six
city guards whose daily duties included playing the pipes from the town
tower at breakfast time. They also provided musical accompaniment to
the chimes of the town clock, not to speak of sounding warning signals
in the case of fire or other calamity. By far the most spectacular
component of the music scene of Legnica, however, was the activity of
the chapel at the prince's court and of the church ensembles, whose
Kapellmeisters were also composers.
Prince Georg Rudolph (1595-1653), who ruled in Legnica from
1602, continued the glorious tradition of arts patronage which was
cultivated by his ancestors: Ludwig I (1316-1398), the owner of one of
the largest book collections in Central Europe at the time, his
grandson Ludwig II (1385-1436), an eccentric traveler and collector,
who commissioned many major architectural projects, and Frederic II
(1480-1547), the founder of the first university in Silesia. On the one
hand, it was on the orders of Prince Georg Rudolph that the castle
chapel (erected during the reign of King Henry the Bearded [Henryk
Brodaty] by masters builders from Thuringia and Saxony) was dismantled.
On the other hand, however, during the Thirty-Year War the Legnica
court provided shelter to the greatest Silesian-German poets of the
time: Martin Opitz (1597-1639) and Friedrich von Logau (1604-1655).
Educated as a composer in Frankfurt on the Oder, the Prince himself
tried his hand at composition. His primary claim to fame, however, was
the foundation of an impressive library. In 1636 it contained 6754
volumes. In addition to academic books and treatises on many subjects,
it included a sizeable collection of musical prints and manuscripts.
The collection of the "Bibliotheca Rudolphina" shared the turbulent
twists of the history of the Legnica region. Ruthlessly plundered by
successive invading armies, it was eventually placed in the possession
of the Knights Academy (1708), where it remained until 1945. In the
postwar chaos the vast collection became dispersed in Poland and
beyond. At present, the depleted collection of prints and manuscripts
from the "Rudolphina", many of which miraculously survived, is held in
four locations: the Library of the Society of the Friends of Science in
Legnica, the University Library in Wroclaw, the National Library in
Warsaw and the Library of the Catholic University in Lublin.
The present CD features a selection from the "Rudolphina" musical
collection which once numbered several hundred items. It represents the
typical repertoire which was performed at the court of the Legnica
branch of the Silesian Piasts at the turn of the 16th century.
Composers of European calibre are featured alongside those of much
lesser rank, who remained practically unknown outside Silesia. The
recording is a real lesson in the history of sound, for which there are
no state frontiers or language barriers. This CD offers a fine
opportunity to study a fascinating and yet totally unknown fragment of
local tradition, which, combining as it does the local with the
universal, at the same time appears to be a window towards Europe.
Robert Urbański
Thomas Elsbeth (ok. 1555-1624/30?) –
composer active in Frankfurt an der Oder, Wroclaw, Legnica and Jawor, known for numerous collections of liturgical songs.
Johannes Christoph Demantius (1567-1643) – composer,
theoretician of music, philosopher; his output includes sacred and
secular works in vocal and instrumental arrangements.
Georg Rudolph (1595-1653) – Prince of Legnica and Brzeg from the Piast dynasty, composer of songs.
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) – the most prominent composer of
early German Baroque, a student of Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice,
Kapellmeister at the electoral court in Dresden, one of the greatest
predecessors of Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Frederic Haendel. The
"Rudolphina" collection contained a copy of his Cantiones sacrae, with the composer's personal dedication to Georg Rudolph.
Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) – well-known German composer of the
late Renaissance period. Court organist in Augsburg. Studied Italian
music with Andrea Gabrieli in Venice; hence his music exhibits strong
Italian influences. His oeuvre includes Polish dances arrangements.
Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) – one of the most outstanding
Renaissance composers. Born in Flanders, he lived in Italy for a long
period. He spent the last thirty years of his life at the court of Duke
Albrecht V of Bavaria in Munich. His works in the "Rudolphina"
collection date from that period.
Valentin Triller (zm. 1573) – German clergyman, theologian and hymn book compiler from the region of Niemcza. His collection Ein christlich Singebuch,
published in Wroclaw in 1559, contains arrangements of church songs (of
mostly medieval provenance) for three voices. The songbook's copy in
the "Rudolphina" collection bears an autograph of Georg Rudolph.
Triller was also a collector of Silesian folk songs.
Valentin Haussmann (1565-ok. 1614) – German organist and
composer, active in Hanover, Königsberg, Magdeburg and Hamburg. His
output comprises mainly dance music and popular secular songs. Before
1602 he stayed in Poland. A collection of dances published in Nuremberg
contains numerous Polish dances. Several of them are included in the
present recording.
Translated by Michał Kubicki