Marcin MIELCZEWSKI
Marcin Mielczewski was a fashionable composer. He was
often mentioned in letters
of the time; together with Pękiel, Scacchi, and Jarzębski, the court
composer of king Władysław IV. We must remember that the royal court in
Warsaw was among the most glamorous courts in Europe – let it suffice
to mention the permanent opera house of king Władysław IV. In 1645
Mielczewski also became a band-master at the Ujazdów court of the
king's brother and bishop of Płock, Karol Ferdynand. After the king's
court it ranked as the second musical centre. This musical position was
therefore a distinguished one. The fact that Mielczewski's compositions
were played in Europe testifies to his fame. And so, we find canzonas
in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, The Municipal Library in
Gdańsk, and in Parish Archive in Levoča in Slovakia; the concertos
"Benedictio et claritas" and "Veni Domine" in the Staatsbibliothek in
Berlin; the cantata "Deus in nomine tuo" in J. Havemann's collection;
"Erster Theil Geistlicher Concerten..." in Jena; the mass "O gloriosa
Domina" in the National Library in Warsaw; and a complete version of
the Sunday Vespers in the famous Archbishop's Archive in Kroměžyž in
Moravia.
Mielczewski died in September 1651. He was remembered long
afterwards. A concerto for basso solo "Deus in nomine tuo" was
published in Jena as late as 1659. The Paris manuscript from the second
half of the 17th century places Mielczewski's canzona in one volume
together with the works of Carissimi, Schmelzer, Rosenmüller, Kerl and
Vitali. The Weimar ensemble's repertoire of 1662 also celebrates the
memory of Mielczewski. In 1664 the Moscow Patriarch Nikon asked his
ambassador in Berlin to send him the Master's works. This fact is very
important at that time the Patriarch was still looking for music to the
liturgy he had been reforming. Is Mielczewski thus a precursor of the
Orthodox polyphony? He might well be.
Long indeed must have been his fame and the fashion for his music,
if as late as in 1687 – that is 36 years after his death – Mielczewski
found his way in to Schacht's "Musicus Danicus" Lexicon which appeared
in Copenhagen. It must be emphasized that contrary to the 16. century,
compositions were rarely printed and music was composed only on
occasions and was often lost after having been performed. What was
played was the music composed here and now; compositions from previous
years were rarely returned to. Therefore musical works were quickly
forgotten. In Poland the Swedish invasion – later rightly called a
deluge – completed the annihilation.
Mielczewski pursued the newest Italian style in his compositions.
It is a rhetorically nature baroque with all the richness of its
artistic means. This created a certain problem and threw into relief
the specific nature of the Polish musical scene. The cornet (Italian
cornetto) was an instrument most typical of the Venetian school. It is
a unique instrument whose tone was full of radiance and dignity. It
imitated the human voice most faithfully. A virtuso could emulate the
sound of vowels and consonants on the cornet. Very fast, high, and
embellished soprano parts could be played on it. No wonder no composer
would dispense with this instrument. Gabrielli, Viadana, Frescobaldi,
Monteverdi, Biber, Schütz, Rosenmüller, and many others – all of them
used the cornet. In Poland, however, for reasons that remain
mysterious, cornet players – at least famous ones – were scarce. The
violin school, on the other hand, was excellent. The copies of violins
made by Dankwart or Groblicz that have survived till now testify to
this. Mielczewski thus entrusted the parts with the texture typical of
the cornet to the violin. However, what is natural and relatively easy
on the cornet, such as fast and high passages, can be difficult on the
violin. It seems that he must have had musicians equal to the task at
his disposal. In this way a unique Polish literature for the
cornet-violin was created. The violin is treated here rhetorically, as
an illustrator of moods equal to the human voice. Strangely enough, at
present – as in the old days – we have many problems finding cornet
players in Poland. Therefore we did not hesitate to entrust the parts
for cornet to the
baroque violin, and recreated in this way the historical situation of
Mielczewski. Other instruments typical of the first half of the 17th
century were narrow-measure trombones. Virtually all composers used
these instruments at that time, mainly as a splendid imitation of a
vocal ensemble. The texture of the trombone parts in "Triumphalis dies"
and "Benedicto et claritas" speak volumes about the perfection of the
musicians Mielczewski had on his disposal. We did not deny ourselves
the pleasure of using trombones in "Magnificat" as well, despite the
Manuscript from Kroměžyž. We used the manuscript from Gdańsk in this
respect. There are trombone parts in it which we superimposed on the
Kroměžyž manuscript. We retained the original figuring of the bass to
display the frolics of harmony typical of the time. We intended to
emphasize the impact of Polish folk music on Mielczewski's works
through the careful choice of instruments and special articulation. We
stressed the dance rhythms in particular.
Baroque seems a monolithic epoch from our 20th century perspective.
Early baroque is overshadowed by the works of Bach, Händel, Vivaldi and
Corelli. And although for the execution of late baroque music
contemporary instruments will do, early baroque music played like that
would be a caricature of itself. We often do not realize how much
changed between the 17th and 18th century. Whole families of
instruments disappeared during that period. New tuning systems were
introduced, choirs were enlarged and musical fashion changed. While new
changes were being introduced the old music was disappearing. I would
like to mention Heinrich Ignatz Franz von Biber here, who played
Mielczewski with his band in Kroměžyž before absconding from the
bishop's service. Biber, musical enfant terrible, composer,
band-master, and violin virtuoso is a symbol of the early baroque.
After his escape the repertoire of the band changed radically. It
became less avantgarde and virtuoso. The wooden choir over the altar
was dismantled and the works played under Biber – among them
Mielczewski's – were put into an old chest standing in a staircase
leading to nowhere, and forgotten.
No wonder that today also we have had to wait for the return of
some rare instruments and specialities of that time. An elaborate
texture of multi-choir compositions has kept us waiting a long time.
This music requires singers absolutely devoted to the old technique of
singing – singers who consistently use so-called natural tuning. Organ
positives, baroque violins, viols da gamba, violone, lutes, cornets and
trombones which can play in accordance with the rules in force at that
time are indispensable. I would like to express my thanks to all the
musicians from Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland, who participated
in the revival of Marcin Mielczewski's music in May 1992. As, in a way,
pioneers in the field we reserve to ourselves the right of our own
interpretations which, we are aware, need not enter new canons. What is
more, we hope we will encourage other musicians to undertake thorough
studies of Mielczewski's legacy so that his works may sound better and
richer. We play and sing Mielczewski in order to show that Mielczewski
belongs among the very best composers of the first half the 17th
century. Are we right?
Marcin Bornus-Szczyciński
(Translated by Zofia Kolbuszewska)