programme and abstracts - Alamire Foundation

16
PATRICK DENECKER
Ensemble La Caccia, BE
The Partbooks of Dorothea
Ms II 3843 in the Royal Library of Brussels is a remarkable
manuscript. It belonged to the former collections of Perne and
Fétis. Consisting of 5 extremely small books bound in leather
with gold print it contains music from the circle of Duke
Albrecht’s chapel in Königsberg. Most probably the music
collection belonged to the Danish princess and the duke’s first
wife Dorothea, in 1545. A number of texts are referring to
members of the royal family and other noblemen with
acrostichons.
Names are not mentioned but the music is from composers as
Isaac, Senfl and Kugelmann. Only the tenor parts are texted. The
size of the manuscript rises many questions about ownership,
use, performance practice etc. Interesting too are the
contributions of texts by Johann Poliander as well as the other
texts which are situated in the Lutheran atmosphere.
The manuscripts repertory refers more than once to other well
known part books of the Royal Danish court chapel. Interchange
of repertory through musicians must have been the case.
IZABELA BOGDAN
Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan, PL
Königsberg Wedding Ceremonies in the Context of Musical
Culture of the Hanseatic Region in the 16 th and 17 th
Centuries
Königsberg, along with five other Prussian towns (Gdańsk,
Elbląg, Toruń, Chełmno and Braniewo) as well as three Livonian
ones (Riga, Dorpat, Reval), belonged to the Prussian-Livonian
quarter, one of the four such within the Hanseatic Leagues,
comprising trade towns under the leadership of Lübeck.
Königsberg, which remained within the sphere of Hanseatic
influences up to the mid 17 th century, adopted a considerable
number of customs typical for that cultural region, including the
course of wedding ceremonies. In my paper, I intend to examine