New findings concerning the provenance of one source of Marcin Mielczewski’s ‘Missa super O gloriosa Domina’, MS PL-Wu RM 6243

Katarzyna Spurgjasz

Abstract

This text presents new findings concerning the origin of one of the three sources of Marcin Mielczewski’s Missa super O gloriosa Domina: a manuscript held in Warsaw University Library under the shelf-mark RM 6243. In the existing subject literature, this manuscript has been linked to Żmigród, on the basis of provenance notes; one of its owners, a Theophilus Freytag, has also been identified. Archive research has led to the discovery of two other owners, signed with their monograms in the provenance notes. The first was Christoph Johann Werner, a cantor of the Catholic parish in Żmigród in the years 1655–72; the second was Joannes Chrysostomus Zalaski, a cantor of the Catholic parishes in Prusice near Żmigród (1657–64), Namysłów (1664–78) and Brzeg (1678–1705). Thus MS PL-Wu RM 6243 is an example of the reception of Mielczewski’s work in Catholic centres in Silesia – the only known example whose provenance is confirmed by sources. The author discusses both the newly-discovered owners of the manuscript and also the historical context, such as the documented links between the music environments of Żmigród and Namysłów (where the manuscript was probably used).