Date of Award

7-2-2025

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (Research)

First Advisor

Rhoda Dullea

Abstract

Adam Jarzębski’s Canzoni e Concerti (1627) is an important source of instrumental chamber music from early seventeenth-century Poland. Jarzębski was a member of the royal musical establishment at the court of Sigismund III Vasa, where he worked alongside Italian musicians recruited by the court. The influence of the emerging Italian stile moderno can be seen in the 27 works of Canzoni e Concerti, which mirror the style and structure of instrumental works by Italian composers such as Dario Castello and Biagio Marini. The changing ideas on music theory and musical expression which originated in Italy are reflected in Jarzębski’s use of chromaticism and dissonant harmony. This project discusses the role of Italian musicians in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how their presence there may have aided the dissemination of new musical ideas across Europe, and influencing Jarzębski’s compositional style. The primary source for this research is the 1627 manuscript of Jarzębski’s Canzoni e Concerti, sourced from the digital library of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin. This manuscript was used to create an accessible performing edition of ten of these works, which were then used to analyse the stile moderno elements present in Jarzębski’s compositions. The edition modernises some aspects of notation and provides a critical commentary discussing editorial decisions and performance practice issues. This aims to facilitate engagement with Jarzębski’s works and to contribute to the broader discussion on the dissemination of musical styles outside of the main cultural centres of early seventeenth-century Europe.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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