programme and abstracts - Alamire Foundation

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Two case studies - discussing musical life in two of the most
important hanseatic towns - will be presented as an illustration of
both sides of this complex, but fascinating story. The town of
Lübeck will be the first focal point of this lecture, with an
emphasis on the history of the Abendmusiken - where the
economical entity ‘Hanze’ and the cultural entity ‘music’ seem to
relate to each other in a most direct way. A second point of
special interest is Hamburg, where the evolutions within the
history of the ‘Ratsmusikanten’ show significant parallels and
connections with hanseatic history.
As such, this paper hopes to provide a general outline of the
central topic of this conference and the Laus Polyphoniaefestival,
as well as a more detailed and concrete view provided by
the examples of Lübeck and Hamburg.
AGNIESZKA LESZCZYŃSKA
University of Warsaw, PL
From Kampen via Königsberg to Gdańsk: the life of
Johannes Wanning
Johannes Wanning spent all of his life in hanseatic cities. Born in
Kampen in 1537 and probably educated there, he left the Low
Countries as a young man, maybe for economic reasons. In 1560
he went to Königsberg and became employed as a singer in the
chapel of Prince Albrecht. His first compositions were written
there. In 1569 Wanning became a chori musici magister at the
Marienkirche in Gdańsk and stayed there till his death in 1603.
He was receiving wages from the City Council. Its role in
supporting musicians, not only those active in Gdańsk, was very
important. Wanning was compelled to adapt directives of the
councillors but he knew how to force his artistic ideas. His high
rank in the life of the city was testified by the fact that he was a
member of the elite Reinholdsbank in the Artushof. Almost all
his works - more than 100 compositions (motets, masses,
occasional pieces) - originated in Gdańsk. Some of them were
dedicated to the local burghers. Motet collections by Wanning
were printed in Nürnberg, Dresden and Venice and probably the