Carmelite music ensembles in the Greater Poland province in the eighteenth century. Musicians and their repertoire

Abstract

This article deals with the musical culture of the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance in the territory of Greater Poland in the 18th century and has been prepared on the basis of archival materials stored in Polish and foreign archives. In 1743, the monastic authorities of the Greater Poland Province introduced a decree according to which secular musicians were to be removed from Carmelite ensembles. The text therefore identifies those Carmelite centres where vocal and instrumental ensembles were active in the 18th century (Poznań, Markowice, Gdańsk, Kcynia, Obory, Drohobycz and Płońsk, as well as previously unknown information about the Carmelite ensemble in Warsaw), and lists the musicians associated with these ensembles (Kapellmeisters, organists and other musicians). Special attention was paid to composers and copyists. In the course of the research, many details have been established about the life of Elias (Elias a Monte Carmeli), who served as Kapellmeister in Poznań for many years, his civilian name (Jan Matalski) has been indicated, and information about the sources for his works has been summarised. Attention was drawn to the figure of Fabian of St Valentine (Valentinus Winkler), who, while he was Kapellmeister and organist, probably also composed. In addition, a profile of Teofil a S. Dorothea, who was Kapellmeister in Markowice and Warsaw and a copyist of works such as arias by Hasse and Pergolesi, is presented. In identifying the organists active in the Carmelite Province of Greater Poland, reference is made to the terms 'organista choralis' and 'organista figuralis' found in monastic sources and the duties of organists known from the printed Ceremonial of 1766 are indicated.