Samuel Besler (1574–1625): The Introduction to Life and Art

Samuel Besler (1574–1625) was born in Brzeg, Lower Silesia. He spent a major part of his life in Wrocław as a cantor at St Bernardine’s Church and then a headmaster of the Holy Spirit school, which belonged to St. Bernardine’s parish. The article presents a biography of the composer including the latest discoveries of the author, made in Wrocław University Library and the State Archive in Wrocław. Biographical information is followed by the short description of Besler’s artistic work in which both symptoms of changes in the music of the early 17th century and manifestation of the composer’s fascination with Gregorian chant are present.

Commander in Opera: Contexts

The aim of this article is to analyse the presence of Commander in Mozart’s Don Giovanni as well as show the references to other opera depictions regarding the myth of Don Juan. Commander, also known as the Stone Guest, is an animate tombstone figure, which appears in every classic-based version of the story about Don Juan Tenorio (Don Giovanni) in order to summon a rogue to conversion; when he fails to do so, he drags the rogue to hell. The spectacular character of the final scene turned out to serve as an inspiration for numerous opera makers, from Mozart to Rimsky-Korsakov (Mozart and Salieri). This theme, which has not been the subject of research before, is definitely worth exploring.

The Musical Rhetoric of the Baroque on the Example of Johannes Brahms’ Psalm XIII Op. 27

The musical style of Johannes Brahms has long been known as influenced by music of the earlier epochs. Its references to techniques, forms and genres of the Renaissance and Baroque music and the elaborate use of the counterpoint were frequently analysed by musicologists. Less often, however, the potential relationship between word and music shaped by the rhetoric in the Baroque music was studied, something which was somewhat forgotten in the Romanticism. Brahms’ fascination with the past, which led the composer to study the 18th-century musical literature and treatises, enabled him to recognise many interesting aspects of the Baroque music. Like Bach and his contemporaries, Brahms used rhetorical figures in his early sacred works, e.g. Psalm XIII Op. 27.

“Cleverly Devised, Postmodern Toy”: Paweł Mykietyn’s Music in the Category of Postmodernism and Constructivism on the Example of III Symphony for Alto and Orchestra

Works of Paweł Mykietyn belong to the most characteristic trends of Polish contemporary music. His compositional attitude was individualised in the first decade of the 21st century, and today he is recognised as one of the most original Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Andrzej Chłopecki, when characterizing Mykietyn’s music after the premiere of the composer’s II Symphony, compared this work to a “cleverly devised, postmodern toy”. Also Mykietyn’s next, III Symphony (2011), can be considered in the context of the categories of postmodernism and constructivism. This work manifests the postmodern attitude, but it is also marked by strict, “cleverly devised”, constructivist thinking. Its musical language contains intertextual references to hip-hop and rap music; on the other hand, it includes such typical for Mykietyn measures as “(de)gradation form”, “accelerando form”, “permanent accelerando” and dodecaphony, which can be found while analysing the work. III Symphony can be also interpreter in relation to techniques of deconstruction, including both concept and structure of the composition.

Music in the Political Marketing on the Example of Polish Presidential Campaigns (1995–2015)

The purpose of this article is to present a broad spectrum of relations between music and politics on the example of Polish presidential campaigns (1995–2015). The first part will show a current state of research signalised by many researchers from different scientific disciplines: from musicologists to political scientists and sociologists, as well as explain the topicality of the described problem. The next part will introduce a short overview of ways of using music with political aims, mentioned, for example, by Iwona Massaka in her dissertation Music as an Instrument of Political Impact. In this context, the author will characterise the most distinctive form of existence of music in a so-called “election song” – also in relation to Adorno’s theory of popular music. The conclusion is that the most important role in presidential campaigns is played by popular music, especially in a form of song. In that case, music tends to advertise political candidates in a way, as it can emphasize their intended image and influence a growth of suport for a politician in a campaign.