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JANKA PETőCZOVáSlovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava

CORI SPEZZATI IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY SPIŠ

The cori spezzati style became established in the musical culture of the region of Spiš (Germ. Zips, Hung. Szepes) in the course of the first half of the 17th century. At present, the region of Spiš belongs to the Slovak Republic; in the analysed period it formed part of the Kingdom of Hungary, which, after its defeat at Mohács by the Ottoman Turks in 1526, was integrated into the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy. Musical life flourished in the muni-cipal centres of Upper Hungary. Until 1674, these municipalities successfully preserved their Protestant character despite of the massive Counter-Reformation effort pursued by the Habsburg dynasty.1 The main hubs of the cultivation of polychoral music were the royal free towns of Levoča (Leutschau, Lőcse) and Kežmarok (Käsmark, Késmárk). However, smaller towns like Ľubica (Leibitz), Spišská Belá (Zipser Bela, Szepesbéla), Spišská Sobota (Georgenberg), Poprad (Deutschendorf), Matejovce (Matzdorf), Spišské Vlachy (Wallendorf), Spišské Podhradie (Kirchdrauf, Váralja), Spišská Nová Ves (Zipser Neudorf), Smolník (Schmöllnitz) also contributed to the dissemination of the new Italian compositional technique cori spezzati, which became established in the region at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.2

The most ancient musical sources documenting the presence of polychoral music in Spiš constitute the manuscripts of the volume SK-Ke N 69192 (olim Rar 14), deposited in the Historical Library of the Lycaeum in Kežmarok. The manuscripts, dated 1584, contain tenor parts of Renaissance motets, including cori spezzati pieces by Christian Hollander (ca. 1510/15-1568), Dominique Phinot (ca. 1510-ca. 1556/61), Jacob Handl (1550-1591) and Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594).3 Most relevant for the research in the polychoral music

1 ricHard ryBarič, Dejiny hudobnej kultúry na Slovensku I, Stredovek, renesancia, barok [The history of musical culture of Slovakia i, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque], Bratislava, Opus, 1984; ladislav kačic, Od stredoveku po renesanciu. Barok [From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Baroque] in Dejiny slovenskej hudby od najstarších čias po súčasnosť [The history of Slovak music from the ancient times to the present], ed. Oskár Elschek, Bratislava, Ústav hudobnej vedy Slovenskej akadémie vied - ASCO Art et Science, 1996, pp. 54-138; Janka PeTőczová, Polyphonic and polychoral Musik on the Territory of Slovakia and its Reflections in the Slovakian Musicological Research, «Slovenská hudba», xxii/3-4, 1996, pp. 455-459.

2 Janka PeTőczová, Polychorická hudba I, v európskej renesancii a baroku, v dejinách hudobnej kultúry na Slovensku [Polychoral music i, in the European Renaissance and Baroque, in the history of musical culture of Slovakia] Prešov, Matúš, 1998; ead., Polychorická hudba II, na Spiši v 17. storočí [Polychoral music ii, in Spiš in the 17th century], Prešov, Matúš, 1999; ead., Polychorická hudba III, antológia [Polychoral music iii, anthology], Prešov, Matúš, 1999.

3 The volume 69192 (olim Rar 14) consists of two musical prints (Gallus Dressler, Opus sacrarum cantionum, Nürnberg, 1577; Martin Kinner, Carmen Funebre Musicis, Wittenberg. 1556) and two hand-written appendices, partbooks of vocal voices (mainly tenor voices). marTa Hulková, Hudobný konvolút z Lyceálnej knižnice v Kežmarku. Príspevok k problematike renesančnej hudby na Slovensku (16. storočie) [A music manuscript from the Historical Library of the Lycaeum in Käsmark. Contribution to the problematic of

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history in Spiš are the 17th century prints and manuscripts in the Historical Library of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community in Levoča. They include common musical repertory of the European protestant area and also some unique pieces by lesser-known composers, including musicians who were active in Spiš. Polychoral music is to be found in the prints, hand-written tablature books and partbooks. As many as 100 cori spezzati works by well-known European composers can be found in the most ancient tablature books from the turn of 17th century, in two manuscripts SK-Le 1A (olim 13990a) and SK-Le 2A (olim 13990b) in the Levoča Musical Collection. The repertory includes works by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/26-1594), Gregor Lange (ca. 1540-1587), Jacob Regnart (1540/45-1599), Hans Leo Hassler (1562-1612), Jacob Handl-Gallus (1550-1591), Andrea Gabrieli (1510/20-1586), Giovanni Gabrieli (1553/56-1612/13), Melchior Vulpius (ca. 1570-1615) and Hieronymus Praetorius (1560-1629). The largest group of cori spezzati compositions is represented by double-choir music of Giovanni Gabrieli from his Sacrae symphoniae (1597).

A new impulse for the development of musical life and also for the dissemination of polychoral music in Spiš can be observed in the 1610s, i.e. in the period following the year 1611, when Mikołaj Zieleński published in Venice his Offertoria totius anni writ-ten in the cori spezzati style. For the musical cantorships in Spiš the years 1610-1614 belonged to the more favourable period of their development, representing the era of consolidation of the Evangelical Church in the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy. The first Synod of the Church took place in 1610 in Žilina (Sillein, Zsolna), the next one in 1614 in Spišské Podhradie. The Synod constituted an outstanding event from the musical point of view, too. In that year the municipality of Spišské Podhradie procured a new tower clock for the cathedral, as well as a new organ. The archive sources tell us that on the first day of the Synod organised at the Town Hall, the hymn Veni Sancte Spiritus was performed.4

From 1610 on, the municipality of Levoča also increased its support for the musical life in the town. The position of organist in the Evangelical Church of Saint James was taken by Johann Miska, who had earlier worked in Poland and in Bardejov (Bartfeld, Bártfa). Miska developed an active cooperation with Caspar Stein, the cantor of the municipal Latin school, and with Johann Minoris, its new rector. Minoris was known as a patron of music: he established a fund with a capital of 100 Guilders. The fund sup-ported, among other things, organ teaching.5 The organ of Saint James was rebuilt after 1615, and at the same time, the municipality invested a considerable amount of money also into purchasing musical prints.

In 1614, the municipality of Levoča bought Orlando de Lasso’s Magnum opus musi-cum, containing a classical repertoire of late Renaissance polyphony and eight-voice

Renaissance music in Slovakia (the 16th century)], «Slovenská hudba», xxiv/3, 1998, pp. 264-308; PeTőczová, Polychorická hudba II, pp. 42-43.

4 Borislav PeTrík - PeTer ryBár and team, Evanjelická encyklopédia Slovenska [Evangelical Encyclopedia of Slovakia], Bratislava, BoPo, 2001; Kronika mesta Spišské Podhradie slovom i obrazom [Chronicle of Spišské Podhradie by words and pictures], ed. František Žifčák, Spišské Podhradie, Mestský úrad, 1999, p. 28.

5 franTiŠek maTúŠ, Tabulatúrny zborník Samuela Marckfelnera [Tablature book of Samuel Marckfelner] (Stará hudba na Slovensku, 4), Bratislava, Opus, 1981, p. 5.

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cori spezzati compositions for two separated choirs. The oldest prints containing early Baroque polyphony of German composers were preserved in the Levoča Music Collection from the years 1602-1620; the prints include the Magnificat octo vocum and Cantiones sacrae of Hieronymus Praetorius, the Psalmen Davids (SWV 22-47) of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and the Cantiones sacrae octo vocum of Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654).6 An import ant event, with the involvement of solemn music, was the celebration of the cen-tenary of the Reformation in Levoča (29 November 1617). The hymn Te Deum laudamus was sung at this celebration: «Nach vollbrachter Jubel Predigt hatt mann das Te Deum laudamus gesungen […] vnd dieszen actum mit einer schonen Music geschlossen»7; it might have been a polychoral performance.

We are able to track particular music repertoire in the Protestant cantorships of Spiš from the 1630s onwards. It was in those years that the tablature books SK-Le 3A (olim 13992) a SK-Le 4A (olim 13993) began to be compiled. The books contain almost 400 compositions, including ca. 200 polychoral pieces. They were recorded during the dec-ade 1635-1645 in the Spiš towns of Spišské Podhradie, Smolník, Ľubica and in other towns with a dominant German-speaking population like Banská Štiavnica (Schemnitz) and Nitrianske Pravno (Teuto Prona). The tablature book SK-Le 4A contains almost a complete copy of pieces from the Psalmen Davids of Heinrich Schütz and the Cantiones sacrae of Samuel Scheidt; moreover – as mentioned above – original prints were also preserved in Levoča. The printed partbooks of the Psalmen Davids contain manuscript appendices of an extraordinary value, attached to each of the printed part books in SK-Le 26A (olim 5161). These manuscripts contain polychoral works by European composers – Heinrich Schütz, Melchior Vulpius, Hieronymus Praetorius, Asprilio Pacelli (1570-1623) (cf. figure 1), Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern (1594-1648), Giovanni Gabrieli, Luca Marenzio (1553/54-1599), Daniel Selich (1581-1626) – as well as some unique works by a composer living in Spiš, Johann Schimrack (†1657, Ján Šimrák in Slovak), organist in Spišské Podhradie from 1630-1657 (figure 2).

Johann Schimrack was one of the most outstanding composers of the first half of the 17th century active within the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary. In musicological literature his family name ‘Schimrack’ has long been misspelled as ‘Šimbracký’.8 This

6 All prints containing polychoral music have been preserved incomplete: orlando di lasso, Magnum opus musicum, München, 1604; samuel scHeidT, Cantiones sacrae octo vocum, Hamburg, 1620; Hieronymus PraeTorius, Magnificat octo vocum, Hamburg, 1602; id., Cantiones sacrae, Hamburg, 1607; HeinricH scHüTz, Psalmen Davids, Dresden, 1619; id., Promptuarii musici sacras harmonias, ed. Abraham Schadaeus, Strasbourg, 1611, 1612, 1613, 1617 and Vierdter und letzter Theil Geistlicher Concerten, ed. Ambrosius Profius, Leipzig, 1646. Janka PeTőczová, Polychorická hudba v hudobných tlačiach 17. storočia zachovaných v Levoči [Polychoral music in the early prints of the 17th-century in Levoča], in Z dejín knižnej kultúry východného Slovenska [To the history of book culture of eastern Slovakia], ed. Marcela Domenová, Prešov, Štátna vedecká knižnica v Prešove, 2011, pp. 74-84.

7 Jeromos Bal - Jenő försTer - aurél kauffmann, Hain Gáspár Lőcsei Krónikája [Caspar Hain’s chronicle of the Levoča], Lőcse, Reiss Józs. T. Könyvnyomó Intézete, 1910-1913, p. 151.

8 viera Šedivá, Polyfónna hudba [Polyphonic music], in Dejiny slovenskej hudby [The history of Slovak music], Bratislava, Vydavateľstvo SAV, 1957, pp. 106-108; ricHard ryBarič, Ján Šimbracký - spišský polyfonik 17. storočia [Ján Šimbracký - the composer of polyphonic music in the 17th century], «Musicologica Slovaca», iv, 1973, pp. 7-81; marTa Hulková, Von der Forschung der Musikgeschichte in der Slowakei. Orgel-Tabulaturbücher

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incorrect use of the composer’s name comes from an erroneous identification by earlier researchers of the genitive case Schim(b)rackii (Latin suffix -ii) with the Slavonic/Slovak sounding (artificially created) word of Schim(b)racky / Šimbracký (Slavonic nominative marker -ý, – ký, – cký).9 E.g.: «Extollens vocem / Joh. Schimrackii», «Heutt’ triumphieret Gottes Sohn / Joh. Schimrackii», «Der Tag der / ist so freudenreich / ab 8. Cum Una Cap. à 4. / Joh. Schimbrackii», «Angelis suis mandavit de te / Joh. Schimbrackii».10 In fact, the name ‘Schimrack’ is also of Slavonic/Slovak origin: its Slovak form is ‘Šimrák’.11 There exists a printed record of the presentation of two of his sacred concerti during the dramatic play Ein zwiefacher Poetischer Act und Geistliches Spiel in Prešov, where his name is shown in the form of Johann Schimrack:

Die Siebende / MUSICA. / Gott stehet in der Gemeine Gottes / Mit einem Discant / 2. Tenoren / und Baß; / Erster Theil. / Auß Johann Schimracks Concert / mit Acht Stimmen; Die Achte / MUSICA. / Gott stehet in der Gemeine Gottes / Mit 1. Discant / 2. Tenoren / und Baß; / Anderer Theil: / Auß Johann Schimracks Concert / mit acht Stimmen.12

Johann Schimrack, organist in Spišské Podhradie is one of the two composers of this time in Spiš, whose polychoral works have been preserved in the Levoča Music Collection in their entirety. The other author is Thomas Gosler (†1646), a notary and school inspector in Kežmarok in 1625-1646.13 Two pieces of Thomas Gosler have been

der Musikaliensammlungen von Levoča (17. Jahrh.), «Musaica», XVIII, 1985, pp. 57-59; ricHard ryBarič, Ján Šimbracký: Opera omnia I, Bratislava, Opus, 1982 (Fontes Musicae in Slovacia, 7). id., Ján Šimbracký: Opera omnia II (Fontes Musicae in Slovacia, 8), ed. Ladislav Kačic, Bratislava, Opus, 1993 (posthumously edition). The correct version of the name has been introduced since 2004. Janka PeTőczová, Johann Schimrack / Ján Šimrák: Lobe den Herren, meine Seele! / Chváľ, duša moja, Hospodina! [1642], Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2004 (Musica Scepusii Veteris, II/1); ead., Johann Schimrack / Ján Šimrák - spišský polyfonik 17. storočia [Johann Schimrack / Ján Šimrák - the composer of polyphonic music in the 17th century] in Musica Scepusii Veteris / Stará hudba na Spiši [Old music in Spiš], ed. Janka Petőczová, Bratislava, Ústav hudobnej vedy SAV - Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2008, pp. 79-100; ladislav kačic, Dejiny hudby III. Barok [The history of music iii. Baroque], Bratislava, IKAR, 2008, p. 223.

9 Pronounciation: ‘-ee’, ‘-kee’, ‘-tzkee’. 10 This is a standard form of indicating the composers’ names in the manuscript SK-Le 3A: «Verbum

caro factum est / M(elchiori) Vulpii», «Magnificat anima mea Dominum / octo vocum 8vi Toni / Hieronymi Praetorii». The correctness of the form Schimrack is proved by other archival sources, e.g. the notary book Acta forensia of Spišské Podhradie records the demise of the composer in 1657 in the form «Joh: Schimrag. Obiit». In Acta forensia ab Anno 1643 usque 1695. Ministerstvo vnútra SR, Štátny archív Levoča, pobočka Levoča, Fond Magistrát mesta Spišské Podhradie.

11 Pronounciation ‘shimmeraack’. Originates from the verb ‘šimrať’, meaning ‘ (to) tickle’.12 The play by Peter Eisenberg Ein zwiefacher Poetischer Act und Geistliches Spiel (Bardejov, 1652) was

performed by children of the municipal Latin school in Prešov in 1651. There is a remark in the text of the play indicating that the scores could be found at the home of Georg Plotz, the German organist of the parish of Prešov: «Die Musicalischen Concerten findet man bey Herrn Georgio Plotschio, Deutsche Organisten bey der Pfarkirchen zu Epperies». franTiŠek maTúŠ, Účasť a podiel Spiša a Šariša na hudobnej minulosti Slovenska [Participation and share of the Spiš and Šariš in the Musical Past of Slovakia], Prešov, manuscript, 1974, p. 79.

13 Janka PeTőczová, Tomáš Gosler - neznámy spišský skladateľ 17. storočia. (Venované nedožitým 65. narodeninám Richarda Rybariča) [Thomas Gosler - an unknown composer of Spiš from the 17th century. In memory of Richard Rybarič], «Slovenská hudba», xxi/2, 1995, pp. 228-262.

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preserved, both of them in the tablature book SK-Le 3A.14 The first of them is a six-part motet written in the stile imbastardito entitled Du hast mir das Hertz genommen on a text from the biblical Song of Songs. The voices are divided into two groups and Gosler arranged them as two three-voice choirs alternating as cori spezzati. Between the two higher voices and the third lower voice there is a relatively big distance, which signals the concertato character of the composition. In the new German organ tablature notation only the vocal parts are recorded, nevertheless, the piece was most probably performed using instruments, too.

Gosler’s other composition, Ist Gott für uns, wer mag wider uns sein?, was written on the text of Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and constitutes a typical example of the pure cori spezzati technique. The two four-voice choirs, distinguished by their timbre as a lower and a higher choir, act here as two autonomous units. Their spatial separation adds to the specific attractiveness of their sound. One can identify this pattern as a double- choir motet in stile antico with organ accompaniment. The tectonics of the work is based on a symmetric ritornello, however, the introductory section in triple metre is not homo-phonic, and rather it is created of antiphonal repetitions of the two choirs. The passages between the ritornelli are also made of antiphonal replies. The graduation is stepped up by dialogue sections. By singing the text Wer will uns scheiden von der Liebe Gottes / Nichts soll uns scheiden von der Liebe Gottes the two choirs are not leaning against each other in the form of antiphonal repetition, rather the higher choir poses a new question and the lower one confirms the response by repetition (figure 3).

Polychoral pieces by Johann Schimrack have been preserved in much greater numbers. Fifty-four pieces of his sacred music have been preserved, most of them in the tablature books SK-Le 3A (olim 13992) and SK-Le 5A (olim 13994). In the tablature book SK-Le 3A, out of 42 of Schimrack’s compositions, 36 have a classical polychoral structure con-sisting of two- to four-voice choirs. With some degree of simplification we can divide them into two categories: double-choir motets composed in a pure cori spezzati style and two- or multiple-choir sacred concertos, many of them with soloistic elements. In composing masses, motets, psalms and Magnificats, he used the classic cori spezzati technique. A smaller num-ber of these pieces is recorded a cappella, most of them including general bass or organ accompaniment, as well as, in exceptional cases, also showing the figured bass.

Schimrack mastered well the Franco-Flemish technique of the counterpoint; he also used the sonoric elements of Venetian polychorality. Imitative polyphony was often preferred by him in expositions, like in the motet Congregati sunt inimici nostri. This constituted, however, no rule; one can find in his expositions antiphonal repetitions as well, e.g. in the three-choir piece Factum est silentium in coelo. More modern concertato elements were preferred by Schimrack in compositions written on German texts; here, he built on the stile recitativo of Heinrich Schütz. Almost all Shimrack’s sacred concertos are

14 Janka PeTőczová, Thomas Gosler: Ist Gott für uns, wer mag wider uns sein? / Keď Boh za nás, kto proti nám? [1642], Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2003 (Musica Scepusii Veteris, i/1). ead., Thomas Gosler: Du hast mir das Herz genommen / Uchvátila si mi srdce [1642], Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2003 (Musica Scepusii Veteris, i/2).

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composed in stile moderno, with concerto passages alternating between the choir and the soloists. These concertos have variable formal structures. In their transformed form they abandon the pattern of pure antiphonal repetitions of the choirs, rather using competition between the choirs while tutti passages based on the principle of variatio per choros come to the forefront (Gott stehet in der Gemeine Gottes; Jauchzet dem Herren alle Welt).

There is a very interesting group of Schimrack’s compositions written in the cori spezzati style, in which antiphonal singing is a «fundamental compositional resource».15 These works include motets, psalm motets, and psalms written on Latin and German quotations of the Bible. One typical illustration might be a cori spezzati psalm motet Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (figure 4). The eight voices are divided into two four-voice choirs, a higher and a lower one. Antiphonal repetitions of the choirs in tempus imper-fectum constitute the substantive element of the formal structure of the composition; it is only in the exposition of the first part that the composer includes a relatively brief section of a different, triple metre (figure 5).16

The formal structure of Schimrack’s compositions written in the cori spezzati style is not uniform; one can find here the typical idioms of his epoch: differentiation of the choirs by timbre and pitch, alternation of homophonic and polyphonic textures, contrasts in rhythm and metre, illustration of the text by musical means. Schimrack was composing in musica poetica style and used musical-rhetorical figures of all kinds, figures of joyful or solemn character, figures depicting sorrow, figures related to broader tectonic or structural ties. Entire expositions are built by him from elements of circulatio and kyklozis, mainly when illustrating morally or theologically valuable emotions, e.g. in Seid fröhlich und jubilieret. Here, the words fröhlich and jubilieret are emphasized by figures; the same pat-terns can be found in the psalm motets Lobe den Herren, meine Seele, Singet den Herren ein neues Lied and elsewhere.

He used the figure of anabasis (ascending melodic pattern) e.g. in direct illustration of the word erhöhen in the exposition of the motet Ich will dich erhöhen. We can also find this figure in the Psalm Ach Herr, wie sind meiner Feinde so viel on the word anrufen at the beginning of the fifth section. The figure exclamatio is used for putting emphasis on the relevant part of the verb ich rufe an, by inserting an imitative, short ascending melodic motion. This example might also be an illustration of metalepsis in music, the whole text in choir ii is a continuation of the text in choir i. A reverse, descending melodic figure catabasis, was used by Schimrack in setting to music the textual fragment der vom Haupt Aaron herabfleußt in the Psalm 133 Siehe, wie fein und lieblich ist’s. A similar melodic motion can also be found in musical settings of the same psalms by Heinrich Schütz, Michael Praetorius and Tobias Michael (1592-1657).17

15 anTHony f. carver, Cori spezzati. The Development of Sacred Polychoral Music to the Time of Schütz. An Anthology of Sacred Polychoral Music, 2 vols., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988, I, p. [xiv].

16 Janka PeTőczová, Johann Schimrack / Ján Šimrák: Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich / Ku Tebe, Hospodine, pozdvihujem svoju dušu [1641], Bratislava, Ústav hudobnej vedy SAV - Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2011 (Musica Scepusii Veteris, ii/6).

17 Janka PeTőczová, Hudobno-rétorické figúry v tvorbe Jána Šimráka a Zachariáša Zarevúckeho [Musical rhetorical figures in the music of Johann Schimrack and Zacharias Zarevutius], in Slovo a hudba

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Interesting parallels can be found in the work of Johann Schimrack and Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern. Both of them wrote monochoral and polychoral pieces, both used typical compositional idioms of their period: exchanging of choirs, alternating of expositional-, confrontational- and tutti-passages, musical-rhetorical figures etc. In the details, however, they each followed their own way. This is obvious first of all in composi-tions written on the same text. The common refrain Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele of Psalms 42 and 43 was set to music by Apelles von Löwenstern in an eight-voice motet; while Schimrack used this text as the fifth section of the psalm Richte mich, Gott (Psalm 43). Schimrack opted here for antiphonal repetitions of the choirs, as well as the rhythmic diminution by illustrating the phrase und bist so unruhig in mir? (figure 6). Apelles von Löwenstern, on the contrary, preferred a polyphonic introduction in the lower voices, while at the phrase und bist so unruhig in mir? he used rhythmic diminution, as well (figure 7).18 Both compositions are intabulated in the same manuscript (tablature book SK-Le 3A) and both are unique in the European context.

Moreover, Apelle’s intabulations contain instructions for performing with musical instruments, which is relatively rare information in tablature scores. In the composi-tions of Johann Schimrack such instructions are missing. Exceptionally, one can find the dynamic instruction Forte in the ritornello sections of his compositions, e.g. in Singet dem Herren; this might have signalled the full registration of the organ but also the par-ticipation of musical instruments. We only know the partial answer to the questions: what instruments were purchased, manufactured and played in Spiš and what were the con-ditions of performing polychoral music of the cori spezzati style in the local, relatively minor two-bay churches. We know from other intabulations found in Levoča manuscripts that the following instruments were involved in performances of polychoral concertato music: cornetto, bassoon, Trombone, Violino, Flauto and, of course, organ. According to the latest findings, Schimrack’s compositions were performed in Wrocław in the second half of the 17th century mit Paucken.19

The research into Johann Schimrack’s music is still not at an end. Our assessment of his compositional skills and their comparison with those of other musicians will always be relative, limited by the number of surviving sources. Schimrack’s active work in Spiš falls in the period of the work of the composers Franciszek Lilius (ca. 1600-1657), direc-tor musicae of the Cracow Cathedral (1630-1657), Bartłomiej Pękiel (fl. from 1633 to ca.

ako štrukturálno-architektonický celok hudobného myslenia 17.-18. storočia [Word and music as structural architectural whole musical thought of the 17th and 18th century], eds. Irena Medňanská - Karol Medňanský - Peter Ruščin - Janka Petőczová - Katarína Burgrová, Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2006, pp. 91-110. ead., Johann Schimrack / Ján Šimrák: Siehe, wie fein und lieblich ist’s / Hľa, aké dobré, aké milé je to [1642], Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2007, p. 33 (Musica Scepusii Veteris, ii/4).

18 Janka PeTőczová, Johann Schimrack / Ján Šimrák: Richte mich Gott / Prisúď mi právo, Bože [1642], Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2005 (Musica Scepusii Veteris, ii/2).

19 The reference to the performance of Johann Schimrack’s music in the church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Wrocław (Breslau) can be found in the book of testaments: Abschrift der Stiftungen und Obligationen sambt den Dispositionen darüber, welche der Kirche und Schule zu St. Mar. Magd. Von einen Wohlhättern, als ein Beneficium zu genüssen nach und nach Legiret und Constituiret worden. 1642-1758, Wrocław, Archiwum Państwowe, Akta Miasta Wrocławia 4382, olim P 79ee., p. 35.

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1670), chapel master at the royal chapel at Warsaw (1649-1655) and Marcin Mielczewski (†1651), member of the royal orchestra of King Władysław IV Vasa (1638-1644) and master of the orchestra of prince Karol Ferdynand Vasa, bishop of Płock and Wrocław (1645-1651). All of them also produced polychoral music. Schimrack, however, was not a member of a royal orchestra. He lived and composed in a small town of Spiš, but his music was performed in Transylvania and in Silesia, even 30 years after his death. Contemporary musician Sebastian Wildener wrote the following words in appreciation of Johann Schimrack in 1634:

Ich muß mich Verwundern, wie in kleinen Märkten Vnd andern Städten es so feine geübte Vnd geschickte, ia in allen so resolut Organisten gibt. Ich will anitzo Von dem Zu Bartfeld, welcher ein solcher pedalist, das ich seines gleichen in Vngarland (doch keinen Verachtet) nicht gefunden, noch gehöret, Vnd ist Zu Kirchdrauff ein solcher Musicus, der auch in fürstlichen Capellen könte gebraucht werden, wegen seiner geschicklichkeit im schlagen Vnd perfect Musiciren [...] Gegeben Schmöllnitz am 1. Julij Ao 1634 | Sebastian Wildener Basista Vnd Musicus.20

Johann Schimrack and Thomas Gosler are the sole composers active in Spiš in the 17th century whose polychoral works have been preserved in their entirety, or at least in such a form that we can reconstruct the substance of their scores. These pieces represent the phenomenon of polychorality in its various forms – from the pure cori spezzati style to the modified concertato style. The German inhabitants of the Spiš towns naturally inclined to music of German origin, primarily to central and northern German patterns. The Slovaks as an ethnic community in Spiš underwent a specific development in the 17th century, in which the sacred song with multiple vocal parts played a key role. It is not excluded that this also encompassed polychoral music, at least in Levoča, where the Slovaks had their own church. Polychorality was an international performing practice, with a long lasting tradition in Spiš, comparable with the European polychoral tradi-tions. The tradition was established also in Poland thanks to Mikołaj Zieleński. A specific role in the development of this kind of music in Upper Hungary should be attributed to Johann Schimrack, the organist of Spišské Podhradie. Schimrack might not have, per-haps, enriched the European musical scene by new style transformations of polychoral music; however, his cori spezzati works were composed by an original, creative talent and with a sense for the spiritual perception of the world of those days.21

20 maTúŠ, Účasť a podiel, pp. 54-57.21 I would like to thank the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community in Levoča, Slovakia (Evanjelický a.

v. cirkevný zbor v Levoči) for the kind permission to publish the photocopies of the music sources. This article is the result of the projects implementation Hudba ako kultúrny fenomén v dejinách Spiša [Music as a cultural phenomenon in the history of Spiš] and Pramene renesančnej a barokovej hudby na Spiši a v Európe [Sources of Renaissance and Baroque music in Spiš (Zips) and in Europe]. Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic and the Academy of Sciences (VEGA), no. 2/0026/10, no. 2/0049/13. Bratislava, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Musicology.

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The new Italian cori spezzati style established itself in the region of Spiš in the course of the first half of the 17th century in the German-speaking evangelical (i. e. Lutheran) cantorates (Levoča, Kežmarok, Spišské Podhradie etc.). Polychoral music of Italian and German provenance was pre-served here in primary sources (prints, tablature books and part books). They include common musical repertory, such as, for example, intabulations of Venetian double-choir motets by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, polychoral psalms and concertos by Heinrich Schütz and polychoral music by Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern. In the ethnically and religiously mixed environment of Spiš worked two composers of polychoral music, Johann Schimrack († 1657) and Thomas Gosler († ca. 1646). They composed polychoral music in all its forms – from the purely cori spezzati composition technique (Gosler’s double-choir motet Ist Gott für uns, wer mag wider uns sein?) to the modified form in line with notions of musica poetica and stile moderno (Schimrack’s concerto Jauchzet dem Herren alle Welt!). A specific role in the development of this kind of music should be attributed to Johann Schimrack. His polychoral music, which was also performed abroad (Silesia, Transylvania), is a product of an original creative talent.

Nel corso della prima metà del XVII secolo il nuovo stile italiano dei cori spezzati si è affer-mato nelle cantorie evangeliche (cioè luterane) di lingua tedesca della regione di Spiš (Levoča, Kežmarok, Spišské Podhradie, etc.). Vi si trova musica policorale di provenienza italiana e tedesca conservata in diverse fonti primarie (stampe, intavolature e libri-parte). Queste fonti includono un repertorio musicale comune, come ad esempio intavolature di mottetti veneziani a doppio coro di Andrea e Giovanni Gabrieli, salmi policorali e concerti di Heinrich Schütz e musica policorale di Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern. Nell’ambiente etnicamente e religiosamente composito di Spiš erano attivi due compositori di musica policorale, Johann Schimrack († 1657) e Thomas Gosler († ca. 1646). Essi composero musica policorale in tutte le sue forme – dalla semplice tecnica dei cori spezzati (come il mottetto a doppio coro di Gosler Ist Gott für uns, wer mag wider uns sein?) alla forma modificata in base ai concetti della musica poetica e dello stile moderno (come il con-certo di Schimrack Jauchzet dem Herren alle Welt!). Un ruolo specifico nello sviluppo di questo tipo di musica va attribuito a Johann Schimrack. La sua musica policorale, eseguita anche all’estero (Slesia, Transilvania), è il prodotto di un originale talento creativo.

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aPPendix

Music examples

Figure 1. Asprilio Pacelli, Gaudent in coelis animae sanctorum(see: Asprilio Pacelli, Sacrae cantiones [...] Liber primus, Venice, Angelo Gardano e fratelli, 1608)Levoča, Historical library of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community, Music Collection, 26 A (olim 5161), B2

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Figure 2. Johann Schimrack, A Domino factum est istud, Ten[or] 3. Cho[ri],Levoča, Historical library of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community, Music Collection, 26 A

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Figure 3. Thomas Gosler, Ist Gott für uns, wer mag wider uns sein?Modern edition: Janka Petőczová, Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2003 (Musica Scepusii Veteris I, 1), p. 36

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Figure 4. Johann Schimrack, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget michModern edition: Janka Petőczová, Bratislava, Ústav hudobnej vedy SAV - Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2011 (Musica Scepusii Veteris 2, 6), pp. 46-47

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Figure 5. Johann Schimrack, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget michLevoča, Historical library of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Community, Musical Collection, 3 A (olim 13992), c. 262v-263r

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Figure 6. Johann Schimrack, Richte mich, GottModern edition: Janka Petőczová, Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2005 (Musica Scepusii Veteris 2, 2), pp. 54-55

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Figure 7. Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern, Was betrübst du dich, meine SeeleModern edition: Janka Petőczová, Prešov, Prešovský hudobný spolok Súzvuk, 2005 (Musica Scepusii Veteris 2, 2), pp. 16-17

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