Příležitostné písně Šimona Lomnického z Budče

Simon Lomnicky z Budce, an important figure in the Czech Renaissance, authored many works in various genres. A special position among them is held by his occasional songs, which have been unjustly neglected by researchers not only in the field of musicology. These songs represent an important preliminary stage leading to the later genre of cantastoria songs, but with the fundamental difference that Lomnicky, as a compiler of cantionals, worked much more inventively with 'referenced songs' (songs whose tune is borrowed, with the instruction 'to be sung like'); for instance there may be a special relationship between an occasional song and the context of the referenced song. In seeking out and analyzing referenced songs we learn much about period practice, and with a little luck we can also identify tunes of songs that were once widely known but are not preserved in any other source.