Tradycje Śląskiej Kultury Muzycznej Traditions of Silesian Musical Culture
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AKADEMIA MUZYCZNA IM. KAROLA LIPIŃSKIEGO WE WROCŁAWIU Katedra Teorii Muzyki i Historii Śląskiej Kultury Muzycznej THE KAROL LIPIŃSKI ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN WROCŁAW Chair of Music Theory and History of Silesian Musical Culture Tradycje śląskiej kultury muzycznej Traditions of Silesian Musical Culture XV GRZEGORZ JOACHIMIAK University of Wrocław, Institute of Musicology The Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław The Court Capelle at Pszczyna (Pless, Pleß) in Silesia: the History and an Introduction to the Reconstruction of the Musical Repertoire Although you can learn about the music at the castle in Pszczyna (Pless, Pleß) from the sources dating back to the 17th century, the richest period of musical life there began only in the second half of the 18th century. The history of Pszczyna castle is related to the activity of the magnate family of Promnitz, the princely family of Anhalt-Köthen from Saxony, and the princely family of Hochberg from Książ (Fürstenstein). The state of research on musical life at the court in Pszczyna seems to be quite modest – apart from the works taking into account the episode related to Georg Philipp Telemann, the publications of the art historian Jan Kruczek from the Castle Museum in Pszczyna deserve special attention.1 As he pointed out in one of his last publications, Karol Musioł, a well-known researcher of the musical culture of Silesia, helped him in the initial research into the musical archives in the late 1970s. Kruczek also stipulates that his work on these sources was made ‘from the position of a historian, not a musicologist, and it is devoted to court music and its importance in the lives of the owners of Pszczyna lands.’2 His research includes archives that allow to find out many names of musicians, their biographical data, as well as musical inventories. Unfortunately, the sources containing the records of the compositions themselves have not survived, but the preserved musical inventories 1 J. Kruczek, Z dziejów muzycznych Panów i Książąt Pszczyńskich . Od Promnitzów do Hochber- gów [From the musical history of the Lords and Dukes of Pszczyna. From the Promnitzs to the Hochbergs], Pszczyna 2009 (further literature there). 2 Ibidem, p. 4. 64 Grzegorz Joachimiak make it possible to get to know the repertoire of the music ensemble from Pszczy- na. The subject of this article is primarily the content of one of the musical inven- tories (containing music incipits) from 1823. The analysis of the contents of this inventory has not been the subject of research by Jan Kruczek or musicologists so far, therefore an interesting perspective opens, involving the initial identification of selected compositions, verification of attribution, as well as paying attention to the music parts performers mentioned in the inventory, which gives the opportunity to obtain previously unknown information from the sources that are almost absent in musicology. In order to understand the significance of the activity of the court music ensemble in Pszczyna and the facts that affect its functioning and the selec- tion of the musical repertoire, it is necessary to pay attention to some of the most important moments in the history of the Free State of Pszczyna. Pszczyna and Żary in the hand of one sovereign? From the history of the Promnitz fideicommissum Thanks to the efforts of Wrocław bishop, Balthasar von Promnitz (1488–1562), the properties acquired by him in 1548 and 1558 became the basis for the crea- tion of a land ordinance three years later. Fideicommissum consisted of the Pszczy- na estates in Upper Silesia, i.e. the city of Pszczyna with the castle, the towns of Mikołów, Bieruń, and 49 villages, and the Żary-Trzebiel (Sorau-Triebel) estates in Lower Lusatia.3 Both Pszczyna and Żary had the status of the Free States (Freie Standesherrschaft) in the 16th century, which was associated with special privi- leges. There was a possibility of creating, among others, their own administrative system, having direct and indirect jurisdiction, as well as supervision of education, and the estate owners were subject only to the emperor. Importantly, they also had the right to patronise the church on their lands, which the Bishop of Wrocław, as a supporter of the Reformation, took advantage of, as it was also allowed by the cuius regio eius religio privilege resulting from the peace concluded on 25 September 1555 in Augsburg. The status of the so-called Free State Lords was almost equal to the princely, thus the decisions of Bishop Promnitz contributed to the develop- ment of Protestantism in Pszczyna and Żary.4 The idea of the indivisibility of prop- erty and its inheritance by successive members of the Promnitz family persisted for over 200 years. The properties of Pszczyna and Żary were in the hands of the 3 See: J. Polak, Poczet Panów i Książąt Pszczyńskich [A series of Lords and Princes of Pszczyna], Vol. 1, Pszczyna 2007, pp. 36–128; J. Kruczek, op . cit ,. p. 7. 4 With the exception of the were state votes in the Seym, where the owners of the status maiores had only one vote in total, while the princes had each separate voting rights. The Court Capelle at Pszczyna (Pless, Pleß) in Silesia… 65 Promnitz family, but Pszczyna and Żary had separate administrators. However, it was changed by the premature death of Seyfrid II Promnitz the Younger in 1650, after which Pszczyna was taken over by his cousin Siegmund Seyfrid, who already owned the family estate in Żary in Lower Lusatia.5 At that time, Pszczyna lost its independence and its rank decreased over time to a secondary, summer residence managed by regents and starosts, used during hunting visits, usually twice a year.6 An important change, however, was the fact that the successors of Siegmund Sey- frid inherited not only the property in Żary and Trzebiel, but also the property related to the Free State of Pszczyna. After the death of Siegmund Seyfrid in 1654, his immediate successor was his eldest son, Erdmann I Leopold von Promnitz (1631–1664), who in the history of music is known as the patron of music and the employer of Caspar Wolfgang Printz (1641–1717). In research on the musical culture of Silesia, especially in the 18th century, attention has been paid to the castle in Pszczyna many times as one of the travel destinations visited by Georg Philipp Telemann, who in 1705–1708 was the director of the court music ensemble in Żary, during the times of Count Erdmann II Promnitz (1683–1745).7 Taking over Żary court in 1703, he also is- sued organisational instructions for the administration of the castle in Pszczyna in 1704,8 but it was Żary that was to be a place to represent his court ambitions. The experience gained from travelling around the largest European courts, including those of Louis XIV in Versailles, the Habsburgs in Vienna, or the Saxon elector and 5 It is worth paying attention to the fact that from about 1630 a music ensemble was main- tained at the court in Żary, which was led by Mathias Kelz from 1635 (most likely he had already had a collection published in 1623, see: RISM ID no.: 00000990033204), and he came to Silesia from Stargard in Pomerania (Stargard in Pommern). Interestingly, the pre- served archival references to the court in Pszczyna indicate that as early as 1629 court games with the participation of a music ensemble were held there. It is difficult to say, however, whether they were musicians from the court in Żary at that time (thus indicating that the music ensemble had operated in Żary earlier than in 1635), or whether they were local musicians hired occasionally. In this respect, further archival research is necessary. See: State Archive in Katowice, Pszczyna Branch (further as: SA Pszczyna), call number V-5, p. 17; J. Kruczek, ‘Architektura i wyposażenie zamku pszczyńskiego w XVII i na początku XVIII wieku’ [Architecture and furnishings of the Pszczyna castle in the 17th and early 18th cen- turies], [in:] Materiały Muzeum Zamkowego w Pszczynie [Materials of the Castle Museum in Pszczyna], Vol. 2, ed. by J. Ziembiński, Pszczyna 1983, pp. 7–34; J. Polak, op . cit ,. p. 103; J. Kruczek, Z dziejów muzycznych…, pp. 8–10. 6 J. Kruczek, Z dziejów muzycznych…, p. 10. 7 See: J. Mattheson, Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte, Hamburg 1740, [reprint:] ed. by M. Schnei- der, Berlin 1910, pp. 359–361; K.P. Koch, ‘Georg Philipp Telemann als Hofkapellmeister in Sorau’, [in:] Hereditas Culturalis Soraviensis . Beiträge zur Geschichte der Stadt Sorau und zu ihrer Kultur, ed. by E. Białek, Ł. Bieniasz, Dresden 2010, pp. 113–128 (further literature there). 8 J. Kruczek, Z dziejów muzycznych…, p. 15; See also footnote 26. 66 Grzegorz Joachimiak the Polish king Augustus II the Strong in Dresden, became the basis for organising ceremonials and court etiquette, and his own music ensemble as well. At the cas- tle in Pszczyna there was still no separate music ensemble, at best local musicians were employed for special occasions. Johann Erdmann (1719–1785), the last of the Promnitz family, who managed the property in Żary and Pszczyna, took a similar position in 1745. However, due to the increasingly serious tendencies to introduce pietistic ideas at the Promnitz court,9 the activity of the music ensemble, which was a symbol of lavish life, was gradually limited and its number of musicians was reduced. Ultimately, Johann Erdmann Promnitz made a much more radical deci- sion and on 27 April 1765 he chose to hand over the Free State of Pszczyna to his nephew, Frederick Erdmann (1731–1797) from the princely family of Anhalts in Köthen, at the same time giving rise to a new history of Pszczyna, including, as it later turned out, especially the development of musical life in the local castle.