Скачать или смотреть Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki - Missa Paschalis (Gałązka)

#polish
#baroque

Conductor: Waldemar Gałązka
Ensemble: Resonans con tutti

Gregorian Antiphons: Marcin Konopacki

Original Video:    • Missa Paschalis - Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczyc...  

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki was born about the year 1665 in a family of free peasants. His father, Adam Gorczica, was a wealthy landowner and head man of the village of Rozbark outside of Bytom. Nothing is known of the early period of his life. Nor is anything known where he acquired his expert knowledge of music and excellent composing technique. Evidence is available regarding his studies at the Academy of Czech Prague and at the University of Vienna where he received a doctorate in Liberal Arts and Philosophy. It is assumed that after attending Cracow's Catholic Seminary for a time, he then continued his studies in Prague and Vienna. It is also assumed that he studied music while abroad. Upon his return to Poland and a brief period at the Wawel Seminary in Cracow, he was ordained in March 22, 1692.

He soon attracted attention thanks to his erudition and musical accomplishments as may be witnessed by the fact that directly upon being ordained he received an important appointment as director of the academy of missionary priests at Chełmno, Pomerania. He was described as vir sedatus, literatus, artis musicae peritissimus. He also acted as professor of rhetoric and poetics and conducted the local orchestra.

Two years later Gorczycki returned to Cracow where he performed the office of curate at the cathedral and performed in the cathedral orchestra. In 1698 he was appointed conductor of the cathedral ensemble. Gorczycki carried out his duties as Kapellmeister of the group to the end of his life in April 30, 1734.

Gorczycki enjoyed enormous prestige and fame even during his life, for two years after his death a laudatory monograph was devoted to him by Józef M. Nogawski. He was not an excellent composer but also a very fine person. Goczycki's personality appears to best advantage in the light of available information and archival material. He is described as a man of unbounded energy, hard working and conscientious.

He was a conductor of several ensembles, a copyist, teacher and seminary examiner. He was also active in such social services as caring of the sick in the hospital and prison, acted as a Penitentiary and was known for his charitable work as administrator of the God's Mercy Church at Cracow's Smoleńsk district, making an especially valuable contribution in days of disaster and epidemics. During the Swedish invasion of Cracow, he was one of the few priests to remain at his post. The said author of his monograph, Nogawski, included in the translation of sermons that he brought out a panegyric dedicated to Gorczycki from which we learn about the composer's travel to Rome. Gorczycki remained a cult figure in Cracow and his compositions were performed to most recent times.

The earliest information about Gorczycki's compositions come from 1694. By 1698 the composer must have already written a substantial number of works since the Wawel Cathedral Chapter appointed him conductor of the orchestra as artis Musices gnarum et compositorem. Gorczycki's talents were at their peak in the early 18th century.

Unfortunately, since none of his compositions appeared in print during his life, many of them have now been lost. First time Gorczycki's composition, Missa Paschalis, (Kyrie; Gloria; Sanctus; Benedictus; Agnus Dei - A.J.), was published in 1839 by J. Cichocki. Latest research has established that manuscripts of his compositions were found in Częstochowa, Raków, Sandomierz, Warsaw, Wieluń and Podoliniec (Slovakia). We now have information about nearly 50 of Gorczycki's compositions.

As said earlier, until quite recently, historians judged Gorczycki to be an outstanding but conservative composer of works written mainly in the a capella tradition. The latest discoveries indicate that his work evolved along many lines as evidenced by compositions a capella, vocal-instrumental compositions, works for instruments alone and perhaps also stage works.

(completorium.republika.pl)