Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

—
—
—
SONG 571
in the cathedral of Gnesen.i Here and at
Domtrova on the Warka, it is still sung every
Sunday. The hymn is, however, well known
throughout Poland, as it is used on all solemn
occasions, for triumphant or sad ceremonials
and on the battlefield ^ :
more finely susceptible to romance than the
Russians, and their music is full of fire and
passion. Their songs are somewhat wanting
in melodic invention, though this deficiency
is hidden by the wonderful skiU with which
they are varied and embelliahed ; and they
are marked by a, poetic melancholy which
makes them attractive. In colouring, they
are instrumental rather than vocal, aa revealed
in their difficult intervals :
Ezi: etc.
Another familiar hymn is the ' Hajnaly,' which
is heard every morning from the towers of
Cracow to awaken the sleeping town. In the
old sacred song -books called Karuyyonaly or
Cancionales ' preserved in cathedrals, convents,
and in the libraries of the great nobles, many
old secular folk-songs are to be found incorporated
in masses and motets * likewise
;
many kolendas which are peculiar to the
Polish people. These kolendas (noels) are old
folk-songs, some dating from the 13th century,
and are still sung in every house and street at
Christmas time, and it is in one of these kolendas
that we meetwith the rhythm of the polonaise
W :
Zldbie Uzy.
Ex, 2.
1. WzlobielezyKtozpolilez7KO'leii-do wac ma. le mu.
S^^^^^^l
2. Je-ou Bo-wi ChT7S-tu bo-w1 Dzia nam na-rod-zo rem-u.
Ba£-tufiz kO'Wie prz7-b7- waj-cie, Je muwelziecznie
The Poles have ever loved their simple, dignified
hymns, and are so familiar with them that they
may be truly called their national music*
Unlike the Russian and other Slavonic races
the Poles are singularly exempt from Asiatic
influences, and are far more European in feeling.
At an early date they accepted the Roman
Catholic faith ; and while adhering to the Slav
language, they adopted the characters of the
Latin alphabet. The Poles are excitable and
L St. Ajialbert was bom in 936. Ending liie a member of the
Foliah hierarchy, St. Adalbert belongs to Poland ; by birth, however,
he wa£ Bohemian, and, at one time. Bishop of Pia^e,
2 For the hymn [translated Into modern notation by F. Leasel) see
Sowimikl, Lea JWuMtciem PohmaU, p. 64.
3 The Bohemian Brothers first printed the CanoionaUi at Plague
and at Cracow, in 1568.
* This is not the place to speak of the interesting polyphonic
school of music which flourished in Poland during the late 15th
and 16th centuries, and of the work done by the so-called College of
Roratists at Cracow. Thisaehool was represented bysnch composers
as Felzstyn, Leopolita, SzamotulskJ, Szadek. et&,all of whom were
clearly nnder Flemish influence.
& Two hymnatotheVitginandaBesnrrectlonbynmare especially
celehtated, and these were printed by the Abb^ Aiioduzewsky in his
collections of sailed songs at Cracow in 1838. For further information
on these historic hymns, see E. Oloff, PolTtigdie lAeder-
Oeacktchte, 1744.
EJ ej sla - zy dow-ka ej ej wedie
It is rather to their characteristic and striking
rhythms, free, varied, and elastic and yet contained
in dance forms, such as the polonez,
krakowiak, and especially the masur or mazurek,
that they owe their rare beauty and brilliance.
The mazurek^ is usually a melancholy yet
quick and strongly accented dance-song in 3-4
time ; the tempo is irregular and closely follows
the words. These may treat of peasant occupations—hay-making,
harvest, vintage, or of love,
soiTOW, parting, or meeting. Some of the
oldest mazurs, polonezes,'' and more especially
the hymns, take their name from a battle or
historic event recoimted in the text. The
krakouiiak^ is described by C. Miaskowski in
a book of poems published in 1632, proving
that this lively dance-song in duple time has
long been popular in the country. And to the
same date and genre belong the gregorianki—
songs which the market-women of Cracow sing
on the festival of their patron-saint.
In scientific and ecclesiastical composers
Poland excelled for many centuries, but in the
17thcenturythesegave place to Italianmusicians
who reigned supreme at Court. The first efforts
to counteract the Italian influence were made by
Kaminsky, J. Stefani, and J. Eisner in the second
half of the 18th century. These founders of
Polish national opera, by incorporating a large
number of their country's songs into their works,
won immense popularity. Eisner also wrote
many volumes of songs, besides two treatises on
the rhythm and prosody of the Polish language
and its suitableness for singing. Eisner's
melodies are simple * and facile ; and though
scarcely known beyond the borders of Poland,
there, he is still one of the favourite composers.
Rather earlier in the same century the charming
poems of Fran9ois Karpinski were set to
music—either to original or adapted tunes, and,
sung by rich and poor alike, belonged in their
turn to the national song -group, such for
instance, as 'Yuz miesionf zeszell' ('D^jk la
lune se Uve'), which is still heard. In 1816
the poet Niemcewicz published his great
work, Spieioy historyczne z inusyka i ryeina/mi
8 See MazuBKj.. ^ See Poloitaise.
^ See CKACOTiEmfE.