arsnovapolonia.eu
medieval.org
muziekweb.nl
1991
Accord 201412
luty 1990
Pałac Prymasowski, Warszawa
PETRUS
DE GRUDZIĄDZ
1 - Preconia etroclita (chanson) [2:44]
2 - Problemata enigmatum (chanson) [3:44]
3 - Predulcis eurus (chanson) [3:14]
4 - Prelustri elucencia (chanson) [2:25]
5 - Jacob ... Pax eterna... Terribilis (motet)
[3:24]
6 - Veni... Pneuma... Paraclito... Dator (motet)
[3:34]
7 - Probitate... Ploditando (motet)
[6:34]
8 - Phebus ecclipsi (chanson) [2:40]
9 - Pomi... Hominem... Sed... Paraneuma (motet)
[2:47]
10 - Preformosa elegantis (chanson)
[1:31]
11 - Phonicorum ethicorum (chanson)
[2:48]
12 - Kyrie fons bonitatis... Kyrie sacerdos
(chanson)
[5:49]
13 - Panis... Panis... Pange... Patribus... Tantum
(motet)
[0:33]
14 - Presulem ephebeatum (chanson) [2:44]
15 - Presidorum erogatrix (chanson)
[2:45]
16 - Presulis eminenciam (chanson) [1:57]
17 - Plasmatori estuanter (chanson)
[2:46]
18 - Promitat eterno (chanson) [2:17]
Bornus Consort
Marcin Bornus-Szczyciński
Marcin Bornus-Szczyciński • kontratenor
Ryszard Minkiewicz • tenor
Cezary Szyfman • baryton
Włodzimierz Sołtysik • tenor
Stanisław Szczyciński • bas
Jan Sobolewski • baryton
Ars Nova
Jacek Urbaniak
Michał Straszewski • baryton, flety
Agata Sapiecha • fidel, rebec, mazanki
Marcin Zalewski • lutnia, fidel, tambur
Tadeusz Czechak • psałterium, lutnia
Lesław Szyszko • flety, krzywuła
Robert Krajewski • puzon tenorowy
Piotr Wawreniuk • puzon altowy
Grzegorz Paszko • puzon tenorowy
Urszula Jankowska • sopran
Petrus Wilhelmi of Grudziądz
(c. 1400-c. 1470)
The name of Petrus Wilhelmi of Grudziądz, whose works are found in
German, Polish and Czech manuscripts scattered throughout Europe, was
completely unknown until very recently. Most of his compositions
appeared anonymously, as was common in the Middle Ages. In the 1970s,
however, Jaromír Černý, who was studying 15th-century Czech
manuscripts, was struck by both the words and music of certain
part-songs and motets. All these texts were acrostics, with the initial
letters of consecutive words invariably forming the name Petrus. In one
of the four-part motets, Pneuma eucaristiarum, Veni were
illustrator, Paraclito tripudis, Dator,
Cerny has deciphered the mysterious composer's full name – Petrus
Wilhelmi of Grudencz. Further important evidence is provided by the
fact that two compositions by Petrus are found in a manuscript which
has survived in Cracow, proving that he had contacts with Poland.
According to the records of Alma Mater Cracoviensis, Petrus Wilhelmi
was admitted to that university in 1418, which means that he must have
been born in about 1400–1402. Petrus was born in Grudziądz (spelt
Grudencz at the time), an old market town in Pomerania which belonged
to the Teutonic Knights and came under Polish rule after 1454, together
with other towns in the region. His family was probably of the wealthy
middle class. He studied at Cracow University for about twelve years,
graduating "ad gradum baccalariatus in artibus" in 1425 and "ad gradum
magisterii in artibus" in the autumn of 1430.
His presence in Cracow is confirmed by the manuscript containing two of
his works, which is now in the Jagiellonian library under the reference
BJ 2464. Among other pieces in this manuscript, dating from about 1430
and written in Cracow, are some fairly simple two- and three-part
settings of Latin texts which, from the many corrections, mistakes and
teacher's comments, appear to be students' exercises. It is not known
what Petrus Wilhelmi did on leaving the university, but shortly
afterwards he was present in Basle during the Council (1431–49). The
Council of Basle, which was marked by disputes with the pope, discussed
three main points – reform on the church, the Hussite heresy, and union
with the Greek church. Petrus was clearly on the Council's side, on the
evidence of his Latin poem addressed to the Emperor Frederick III of
Styria, Pontifices ecclesiarum (the music has not
survived). The Kyrie fons bonitatis, which appears
in the Regensburg Emmeram manuscript with the name
"mgr Petrus Wilhelmi", dates from the same period.
We have little reliable information about Petrus Wilhelmi in the
following years, but from the considerable number of his works
preserved in Czech manuscripts, including the Trebon
manuscript, it can be assumed that he lived in the region. In
the 1460s he was in Silesia, in particular in Zielona Gora and, later,
in Glogow (Glogau), where he appears to have spent the final years of
his life. This would explain the presence of works by him in the Glogauer
Liederbuch, a substantial manuscript written in Glogow in
about 1460-70, and one of the most important sources for 15th-century
music in this part of Europe. It contains nearly three hundred
compositions – German Lieder, French songs, hymns, Sequences, anthems
and several instrumental pieces by German, Burgundian and
Franco-Flemish musicians, including Dufay, Busnois, Ghizeghem
and Ockeghem. Jaromír Černý suggests that the
Glogauer Liederbuch was written under the direct influence of Petrus
Wilhelmi, and the poet and composer may even have copied it himself.
When he was a student in Cracow, Petrus Wilhelmi discovered polyphony
from Burgundian and Italian music. Evidence of this is found in two
manuscripts of the time (MS Kras 52 and B Nat 378) which include pieces
by Polish composers and also liturgical compositions by Ciconia,
Antonio da Teramo, Nicola Zacharias and Antonius da
Civitate.
These were the young Petrus's models – the elaborate counterpoint of
northern Europe, and the softer, more sweetly melodious Italian
influence. Later he enriched his language with ideas borrowed from the
younger Burgundian generation, such as Guillaume Dufay.
Petrus was the author of the texts of practically all his works. They
are all in Latin, and all but one – the liturgical Kyrie fons
bonitatis – are in the form of acrostics. The subjects are
generally religious, and the tone sometimes didactic or edifying. Some
are panegyrics, for example two compositions, Presulis
eminenciam and Presulem ephebeatum,
addressed to two successive popes (who were no longer in Avignon),
Martin V and Eugenius IV. The second in particular, in praise of Pope
Eugenius, is not lacking in diplomatic eloquence, and it is a further
indication that Petrus was present at the Council of Basle. Of the
purely secular texts, some express delight at the flowering of nature
in spring (Predulcis Eurus), while others hide a
satirical intention behind a mask of seriousness (Probitate
eminentem). The latter tells us something about the
composer's life. Andreas Ritter, whom he knew well and whose virtues he
praises with a hint of irony, was the son of the headmaster of the
school in Zielona Gora and, later, an Augustinian friar in Zagan (spelt
Sagan at the time).
As a writer, Petrus Wilhelmi was fond of elaborate language and of
metaphors which are sometimes obscure. His poetry is elegant, polished
and artificial, and his vocabulary so arcane that it verges on
neologism. This was the fashion at the time in religious Latin poetry,
which had not yet been given new life by the breath of humanism. It was
obviously addressed to the intellectual elite; in one of his texts,
Petrus expressly asks that "the joyful song of the clerics be not
disturbed by the prayers of the common people" (sed non dicrepet
vulgarim precamen).
Petrus Wihelmi's works are of two genres, songs and motets, differing
in the way the words are set and in contrapuntal technique. The songs,
usually in two parts, occasionally in three, are often very concise,
with a tendency to symmetry and repetition of rhythmic patterns,
sometimes dance-like. They are extremely varied in form, and rhythm is
the dominant feature, giving the music a light, lively tone. Petrus
followed the example of the Burgundian composers, who simplified the
involved rhythms inherited from the 14th century. He did not however
neglect the possibilities offered by the complex system of proportion,
which allowed bars in duple and triple time to be combined, and there
are constant alternations of 2/4 and 3/4, or 6/8 and 9/8. Petrus
Wilhelmi sometimes used a three-beat rhythm which was unusual in the
15th century (*). It is repeated in the song Prelustri
elucencia and is a typically Polish mazurka rhythm, very
appropriate in a piece composed when he was still living in Cracow. The
polyphony of three-part songs is more advanced than in those for two
voices. Some of them (Presulis eminenciam) are in
the style of the French ballade, with an elegant ornamental descant. In
others, the composer uses the same themes for two or three voices and,
probably following Dufay's example, introduces imitation, even
including canonic imitation (Problemata enigmatum).
Two pieces, Presulem ephebeatum and Promitat
eterno, are a specific type of canon, similar to the
mediaeval rondeau, with each voice repeating, after
a longer passage, what the previous voice has sung. The form of the
motets, for three, four and five voices, follows the French model. They
are polytextual, with subtle counterpoint between the words in the
different parts. The internal structure is variable, sometimes free and
sometimes with a refrain. In some, there are similarities to the German
Barform, as there are in the songs. The five-part motet Panis
ecce angelorum has an isorhythmic structure. The same
rhythmic pattern is repeated four times in the bass, the upper voice
(superius), the alto and the first tenor. This highly intellectual,
speculative form is very characteristic of mediaeval thought.
One of the most interesting motets is a two-part secular piece, Probitate
eminentem, light-heartedly praising the virtues of Andreas
Ritter. The arrangement of the voices and the fine, elegant, skilfully
ornamented melodic line recall Burgundian secular songs. The
composition is built round the isorhythmic tenor. This is one of the
finest of Petrus's mature works, composed towards the end of his life,
and its lyricism, enhanced by the sweet harmonies, is enchanting.
Petrus's only liturgical work, Kyrie fons bonitatis,
for important festivals, is in the style of the Burgundian ballade,
with a vocal alto and two instrumental parts. Like the Burgundian song,
it is lyrical, but it is more complex in structure. There are repeated
isorhythmic groups in the tenor part, of which long passages are taken
up in the higher parts, following a different pattern.
The music of Petrus Wilhelmi presents an interesting contrast between
structured forms with complex rhythms on the one hand, and a graceful,
singing melodic line and lively dancing rhythms on the other, combining
to form a rich, animated whole.
Ewa Obniska