Vícehlasá hudba v Čechách v 15. a 16. století a její interpreti

This article deals with the contents and functions of Bohemian music sources between c. 1490 and 1620 and the circles of their real users. It is divided in three parts. The first sums up testimonies from non-musical sources, concerning the institutions responsible for music at the services and elsewhere. It defines the duties of the ‘literati brotherhoods’, school choirs and instrumentalists, in relation to churches. The second part divides the music sources according to their types and possible users, with relation to their contents and settings. Hymn books typical for the ‘literati’ and for the schools are specified here, and also the mixed hymn books, containing two types of repertoire from the point of view of interpretation. In the mixed hymn book, the term ‘sociorum’ often appears, until now wrongly interpreted as meaning the authors from the ‘literati brotherhoods’ circles. In fact they mark the ‘ad voces aequales’ setting, i. e. exclusively for male voices in the hymn books containing compositions fully set (for descant to bass). The third part discusses some aspects of the use of instrumental and secular music.