Viola da gamba parts appear in the composition of Roman Zajączkowski Veni Creator Spiritus of 1706 and anonymous Ave Regina Caelorum of 1714. In 1789 we find mention of Fort Piano, most probably fortepiano noted in registers from years 1769-1794 (DLS G 889) Īs for the lower string instruments used in the Sandomierz cloister, we have mentioned the use of viola da gamba, violone, and violoncello. Clearly, the convent was needed this many continuo instruments and consequently, it had a similar amount of musicians able to perform basso. It is documented that harpsichord was used in church during the liturgy. Positive organ and tangent piano are preserved and displayed in the Museum of Sandomierz Diocese. Among documented ones are positive organ, grand organ (ordered in 1763), harpsichord, spinet, clavichord, from 1774 a tangent piano. We know that cloister had 7 or 8 instruments of this kind.
Fortunately, cloisters chronicle and documents preserved a considerable amount of information.ĭue to the school’s activity, keyboard instruments played a huge role in the monastery’s musical life. While it is almost certain that nuns owned soprano instruments named on manuscripts’ pages, the practice of continuo poses few questions. Apart from said manuscripts, the instruments in use can lead us to similar conclusions. The appearance of keyboard pieces demanding high technical abilities within Sandomierz musicalia could give us the idea about the level of dexterity in continuo playing in chamber music. Although keyboard music is not the focus of this research, it is important to mention that keyboard manuscripts are as numerous in the collection as chamber music. Manuscript L 1668, a miscellany of various keyboard pieces, due to both quite surprising range in quality of the pieces as well as certain inscriptions, is said to be created for educational purposes. Nuns were teaching music there and a large amount of didactic music was found in the BDS collection. Īnother consequence of josephinism in the monastery’s life was the founding of the cloister school for girls, most likely due to the need of meeting social utility standards. It seems that music was treated by nuns as their “export product”, and its importance to the monastery’s image was so high that in some cases guests attended multiple liturgies in one visit just to listen to symphonies, vocal-instrumental works, and chamber music played by the nuns. Rich musical framing of the whole experience, so symptomatic of a theatricalized 18th-century culture obsessed with rites and rituals, was used to induce an impression of grandeur and importance, and, consequently, to intimidate the guest. Music was used as a prestige and position indicator nuns were aware of their technical and artistic abilities, already renowned in the region. The usual visit would include some sort of liturgical celebration (with the vocal-instrumental performance of the vespers or a mass) and dinner in the cloister’s gate, with the accompaniment of chamber music.
Sometimes diplomatic visits were related to local ecclesial politics or sponsorships issues. In case of foreign invasions, cloister abbess used to invite army leaders or their wives before the front’s arrival to Sandomierz, to negotiate conditions on which the congregation could be spared from war vandalism. In cloisters chronicle, we encounter mentions of peculiar diplomatic events. The issue has affected Sandomierz's Benedictines as well and a large amount of symphonic and chamber music preserved in BDS ended up in the collection due to this issue. The way to avoid its repercussions was to prove the cloister’s social utility to the local governors. It was a very turbulent time for religious institutions in the Holy Roman Empire because of “josephinism”- a movement initiated by empress Marie Therese and continued by her son Joseph II, aiming to gain utmost power over the local church, often resulting in dissolutions of many orders. Most of the musical material in the collection comes from the 18th century, especially the second half.
Chamber music in the case of this congregation served quite a different role, far from a liturgical purpose. Since the vast majority of the BDS manuscripts belonged to Benedictine nuns’ of Sandomierz, in most cases, I will analyze them including the performance practice of the cloister. Chapter 2 The diplomatic and representative function of chamber music
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