O domniemanym związku anonimowej "Dumy" z XVI wieku z liturgią pasyjną
On the Supposed Link between an Anonymous Sixteenth-Century 'Duma' and the Liturgy of the Passion

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses an anonymous work titled ‘Duma’ originally included in a sixteenth-century handwritten choirbook from the Krasiński Library in Warsaw (shelf mark 4173 or 4713). That source, which comprised sacred polyphony in Latin, was lost during the Second World War. The ‘Duma’, however, survived, thanks to an edition published in 1930 (in the series Early Polish Music Edition – Éditions de Musique Polonaise Ancienne, fasc. 8). Entered in the manuscript source without a text, it was singled out for publication as an early example of instrumental ensemble music in Poland. After the war, it was also published in a vocal version as a secular battle chanson and supplemented with a period text selected at the editors’ discretion. In this article, we examine what connection this enigmatic work might have to the liturgy, given that it was included in a volume of exclusively sacred material. Taking some stylistic features of the Duma as a point of departure, the author compared it to the (also textless) four-part Rumpelmette’ by Sixtus Dietrich, correlated with a hymn to be sung during the ‘matutinum tenebrarum’. The similarity between these works is evident in the area of composition technique, e.g. the use of ‘redictae’ figures and illustrative elements (‘imitatio tubarum’ and ‘timpanarum’). The differences concern the texture (for instance, the top part is prominent in the Duma). Despite these differences, it is possible that both pieces reflect a similar musical practice evidenced in sources of varying provenance. Hence the author supplements earlier opinions regarding the ‘Duma’ with a hypothesis concerning its links to the liturgy of Holy Week or some other Passiontide service (such as the ‘Horae de Sancta Cruce’).

• Details
• Contents