Extras
Music
Jan of Lublin, Organ Tablature, Shoemaker goes down the street carrying his tools, 1540
Mark Caudle, Viola da Gamba
Filmed by: Jan Gazicki
Jan of Lublin, or Joannis de Lublin, was a Polish composer and organist who lived in the first half of the 16th century. He was a canon and probably an organist at a convent in Kraśnik near Lublin. Thanks to him we possess in Poland a gem from the renaissance world of music – an organ tablature from 1540 consisting of over 350 pieces and some theoretical treatises. It is the largest organ tablature in the world and one of the earliest! You can find in it compositions by composers from all over Europe and from Poland. The compositions included in the Tablature were not just of a religious character. Despite strict orders from the church not to write down the songs, dances and other pieces played outside the church, this disobedient canon created a collection of secular pieces, which we would have otherwise not known. And they are very beautiful.
Here you can listen to the song, Shoemaker goes down the street carrying his tools played by Mark Caudle on the Viola da Gamba.
Adam Jarzębski, Tamburetta, 1627
Mark Caudle, Viola da Gamba
Filmed by: Jan Gazicki
So many Polish works of art and of music have been lost during wars that we feel very lucky to have baroque pieces by Polish composers which we can play and listen to today. Most of the composers and musicians functioned at very musical royal courts alongside Italian and French composers, singers and musicians. Such were the courts of Sigismund III Waza and of his son Władysław IV Waza. They are credited for bringing the genre of the opera to Poland and for sponsoring royal orchestras which consisted mostly of outstanding Italian musicians, but also of Polish musicians and composers, such as Bartłomiej Pękiel, Adam Jarzębski, Marcin Mielczewski, Wincenty Lilius and others. Władysław IV Waza created an opera theatre in the palace where dozens of operas were staged. The arts flourished in the time of Władysław IV Waza and he is well remembered for this reason.
Here you can hear a piece entitled Tamburetta (1627) by Adam Jarzębski plaved on the Viola da Gamba by Mark Caudle. Adam Jarzębski was an early Polish composer, violinist but also a poet, a writer and even architect! After he had stayed in Italy for a year from1615 till1616, he became a member of the royal musical establishment, first at the court of Sigismund III Waza and then at the court of Władysław IV. He was very much appreciated in Warsaw of his time, and is cherished as a Polish baroque composer today.
Jan of Lublin, Organ Tablature, Some more, Marcin (Jeszcze Marcinie), 1540
Mark Caudle, Viola da Gamba
A special place in the 1540 Organ Tablature of Jan of Lublin is devoted to 36 dances. It is difficult to tell where these come from, as for example, in the case of this dance played by Mark Caudle on the Viola da Gamba Jeszcze Marcinie (free translation: Some more, Marcin). It would seem to be Polish, but the first words of the lyrics are the same as those of a popular French song. The Tablature is unique in the way it combines musical pieces of many European countries, but also brings together religious music, music of the courts and those pieces played by village and town musicians.
Music of the villages and townspeople
Royal courts of kings and queens of bygone years were not the only places where music could be heard. Villagers and townspeople loved music just as much as people in the courts of kings. Music-making and old Polish folk songs go back centuries, reflecting Poland’s rich cultural background. These songs originally come from Slavic traditions but have evolved over time, influenced by both Eastern and Western cultures. Thanks to archeological findings we know about early Polish instruments such as the fidel płocki or the suka biłgorajska (see the photographs) but we also know about the early Polish violins developed during the Renaissance and popular in Poland in the 15th and 16th centuries. They are considered by many musicologists to be the direct ancestor of the modern violin, the design of which did not develop until the Baroque era.
Polish folk music plays a crucial role in keeping the Polish language, traditions, and national identity alive. Today, there exist many folk ensembles which draw on the pieces of music from the past. Watch this short video of a Polish children’s folk group from the Tatra region to see how musical traditions are cherished by young people and local communities, especially during festive occasions, such as Christmas.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpUgYl_N-rE
Photo: Antekp (2003), Fidel płocka
Photo: Antekp (2018), Suka biłgorajska
Video
What did Polish noblemen wear?
The Polish noblemen’s attire was very special and in this film you will see its elements. It was worn in the whole of the Commonwealth. It had come into being between the 16th and the 18th century and it brought together elements of late medieval knights’ attire, the clothes of the land owning gentry and garments from the East ( Hungarian, Persian, Turkish, Tatar and Cossack). The noblemen were very proud of their national costume because it represented their Polish identity.
