Event date
-
Podsumowanie
The unique manuscript of ‘Kras 52’ miraculously escaped destruction in a fire during World War II and is now one of the most important musical treasures in the Warsaw National Library. A long-term project to restore the manuscript's contents is being carried out by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in collaboration with Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett.
Content
‘Kras 52’ is the name adopted for the Latin manuscript from the first half of the 15th century, numbered 52 in the former Library of the Krasiński Ordinance. Its collection burned down in the Warsaw building at 9 Okólnik St. It was deliberately set on fire by German troops after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising. However, it was manuscript No. 52 that survived. In 1948, Professor Karol Estreicher was in Munich with the Revindication Committee, and there, while working at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, he noticed a volume being carried by a German librarian. It turned out that it came from the Polish collection, most likely exported during the war, and thanks to this discovery it was able to return to Poland. It is currently stored in a fireproof safe at the National Library in Warsaw as ms. III.8054.
Why is ‘Kras 52’ so special? It contains more than 40 pieces written in black menzural notation. Its repertoire points to influences from the creative circles of Italy and Avignon, more specifically, linking it to the music of the declining phase of Franco-Italian Ars nova and early Franco-Flemish polyphony. It also contains works directly related to Krakow and several compositions by native authors, including Nicholas of Radom. The importance of the manuscript is emphasised by Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, a vocalist and musicologist who heads the ensemble behind the ‘Kras 52’ project:
Text
This is a manuscript in which we find foreign works (...), but also works (...) by Polish composers whose names we also know. These are figures such as Mikołaj from Radom or, probably, Mikołaj Ostroróg. And this melange is very interesting, because we see here the interpenetration of influences; we see Polish composers learning from Western composers and experimenting with polyphonic music, especially vocal music.
The 'Kras 52' project is planned in the Adam Mickiewicz Institute's programme for 2022-2024 and includes a new critical edition of the manuscript with bilingual essays, a complete recording of the repertoire noted in it, a series of concerts, as well as lectures and workshops. In 2023, the first phase was completed. At the beginning of the year, Ensemble Peregrina performed some of the compositions from the manuscript during the concert ‘Music from Kraków and Malopolska from the reign of King Władysław Jagiełło’. The performance during the 9th Marco Scacchi International Early Music Festival took place on 14 March in the spaces of the Vilnius National Museum - Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. It was reported in ‘Kurier Wileński’, Vilnoteka and TVP Vilnius.
In 2023, the ensemble, under the supervision of Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, also recorded the first part of the manuscript and began a Swiss tour with the programme Regina Gloriosa. The Marian songs presented in it are very intimately formulated poems asking for the intercession of Mary, who was believed to bring love, forgiveness and consolation to the faithful since the early Middle Ages. The Regina Gloriosa programme is currently being popularised by Ensamble Dragma, which has so far presented it in two concerts in Switzerland, in Brugg and Thun. Further performances took place in Biel and Basel on 16 and 17 December.
The second programme with repertoire noted in ‘Kras 52’ - Cracovia - features virtuosic instrumental pieces and hymns in honour of Polish royalty. The songs describe the vibrant medieval city of Krakow, the seat of the Jagiellons. The programme is enriched by works by Johannes Ciconia and Antonio Zachara da Teramo, which captivate with their lively rhythms and Italian vivacity. The next four Ensemble Dragma concerts with this programme will take place again in Switzerland - including Solothurn, Binningen and Aarau - between March and August 2024.
In 2024, the ‘Kras 52’ project will be developed - a three-disc recording of the repertoire noted in the manuscript will be released (in collaboration with the Raumklang Music label). In turn, the Polish Music Publishing House will prepare a professional music edition. Finally, a series of lectures and practical classes on the manuscript will be given in the coming months at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland by the renowned German musicologist and specialist in medieval music, Marc Lewon.
