Danielis Sartorii Musicalia Wratislaviensia by Tomasz Jeż

Abstract

Reviewed by: Danielis Sartorii Musicalia Wratislaviensia by Tomasz Jeż Tomasz Górny Danielis Sartorii Musicalia Wratislaviensia. By Tomasz Jeż. (Fontes Musicæ in Polonia, vol. A/1.) Warsaw: Sub Lupa, 2017. [625 p. ISBN 9788365886118 (hardcover), PLN 45; also available as e-book.] Illustrations, bibliography, index. The life of Thomas Rehdiger (1540– 1576) was marked by traveling, meetings with intellectuals, and a passion for collecting. Despite his relatively early death before the age of thirty-six, Rehdiger managed to assemble an impressive collection of three hundred manuscripts of classical authors, six thousand books from diverse fields of learning, and a treasure trove of coins and mineral samples. He willed his collections to his younger brothers, Adam and Jacob, whom he also mandated to make those collections available to the general public. As a result, after decades of trying to overcome various stumbling blocks, the first public library in Wrocław (Breslau) came into being, named Bibliotheca Rhedigeriana (or Bibliotheca Rehdigeriana) to commemorate its originator and benefactor. The library was located in the so-called Auditorium Theologicum at Saint Elizabeth’s Church and was officially opened on 4 October 1661 (although Rehdiger’s collections had already been deposited there in 1589). Wrocław municipal authorities vowed never to divide them—any subsequent donations adjoining the library would lose their original names and be considered part of the Rhedigeriana. This was exactly what happened to a collection called Sartoriana, which included five manuscripts and 399 music prints, mostly Italian, from between 1606 and 1655. Traditionally, it has been associated with Daniel Sartorius (1612–1671), even though a significant part in creating that collection also could have been played by Ambrosius Profe (1589–1661), who was active in Wrocław and the nearby town of Jawor. Sartorius himself was a student of Saint Elisabeth School (Elisabetanum) in Wrocław between 1628 and 1630 and then went on to teach there from 1646 until 1667 (possibly longer, until 1670). Although there are no indications of any formal music-related posts he might have been appointed to, many documents (e.g., the epicedia written after his passing) point to his profound interest in music and the liberal arts. Sartoriana includes music manuscripts and many addenda to printed works written in Sartorius’s hand, which strongly suggest that the collection was used for musical practice, perhaps during private celebrations among Wrocław’s intellectual elite, such as the events hosted by the rector of Elisabetanum, Elias Maior (1587–1669), attended not only by Sartorius but also by Profe (Maior’s brother-in-law through his sister Maria) and numerous Silesian musicians. Sartoriana has a clear erudite flavor, and the collection forms a surprisingly coherent and well-rounded whole. Ninety percent of the prints originated from the Venice publishing houses of Alessandro and Giacomo Vincenti and Bartolomeo and Francesco Magni, [End Page 214] while the remaining works were printed in other Italian cities (Bologna, Florence, Rome, and Naples) or German and Austrian cities (Dresden, Frankfurt am Main, Freiberg, Ingolstadt, Leipzig, Ravensburg, and Innsbruck). The predominance of pieces in the seconda pratica is striking, which makes plausible an assumption that an interest in the new Italian style informed the selection of titles to add to the collection. An overwhelming majority of Sartoriana are works by a single composer, with only 5 percent being anthologies, which could speak to the musical maturity of the collectors. The collection includes numerous prints with pieces by Alessandro Grandi (20), Maurizio Cazzati (16), Orazio Tarditi (15), Ignazio Donati (14), Galeazzo Sabbatini (12), Giovanni Antonio Rigatti (11), and Giovanni Rovetta (11), but also by Claudio Monteverdi (9), Tarquinio Merula (7), Giovanni Legrenzi (7), and many others. Catholic religious music is amply represented in the collection through multiple and diverse arrangements of the Liturgy of the Hours, Masses, and church concertos. Numerous examples of madrigals and dramatic as well as purely instrumental music (e.g., canzonas, sonatas, fantasias, and dances) can also be found there. Sartoriana is thus an erudite compilation representative of the musical culture of Italy and could well have served teaching purposes, although the reason behind assembling it cannot be established with any certainty. Last but not least, a lion’s share of...