MUSICAL CULTURE IN THE CHURCHES OF THE WLOCLAWEK DIOCESE AND AT THE BISHOPS COURT IN THE TIMES OF HIERONIM ROZRAZEWSKI (1582-1600) (Kultura muzyczna w kosciolach diecezji wloclawskiej...w czasach Hieronima Rozrazewskiego (1582-1600))

This article aims to reconstruct the musical practice at the court of bishop Hieronim Rozrazewski, one of the most outstanding representatives of Polish church dignitaries in the second half of the sixteenth century. A knowledge of music, acquired during his studies in France and in Rome, combined with an obvious love of this branch of the arts, enabled Rozrazewski to promote musical culture (and with it polyphonic music) at the churches and institutions of the Wloclawek diocese, and to create a court orchestra, which meant that music was often practised at the bishop's court. A well-organised and thoroughly equipped orchestra offered a wide range of performance possibilities. In additon, a number of sources provide us with information about the orchestra's instruments, among them two extant lists (which include 70 instruments), an inventory of items from the Wolborz Castle made in 1599, as well as other documents (for example, the chronicle notes of the royal secretary Severin, the papal Master of Ceremonies Paolo Mucante, or the anonymous chroniclers working for the papal legate, Cardinal Hipolito Aldobrandini). Remarks which are to be found in eyewitness accounts provide irrefutable evidence that the orchestra performed instrumental-vocal polyphonic compositions, including those by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Philip de Monte, Orlando di Lasso or Joannis Nucius.