Marcin Mielczewski and Music Under the Patronage of the Polish Vasas

Thanks to the musical patronage of the Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty, says Przybyszewska-Jarminska, the end of the 16th century and first half of the 17th was an exceptional period in the history of music in the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania. She focuses on the career and work of one of the most prominent and esteemed musicians and composers of the milieu, Mielczewski (d. 1651), a member of the royal ensemble and, during the last few years of his life, chapel-master to Charles Ferdinand Vasa, Bishop of Wroclaw and Plock. After the outline of a biography, she assesses the state of current knowledge about his compositional output, evaluates the extant sources of his works, profiles his output against the background of the repertoire of the Polish Vasa chapels, and discusses issues relating to the performance of his works. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Barbara Przybyszewska-Jarminska is Professor and Head of the Department of Musicology at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Her main area of research is the music of the late Renaissance and Baroque, especially in the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania.