Kryštof Harant
Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (
As a composer he represented the school of
Life
Harant was born at
After his return, in 1599, he was given a post in the emperor's court and simultaneously raised to the peerage, though both his children died that year. In 1601 he was made an advisor to the court of Rudolf and his successor Matthias and part of the imperial chambers. When the imperial court moved to Vienna, Harant was granted the Pecka Castle and dedicated himself for some years to music, becoming the most important Bohemian composer of the time. During 1614-15 he travelled to Spain with a diplomatic mission.
In 1618 he converted to Protestantism, returned to Prague, joined the forces arrayed against the Catholics as an artillery officer and fought on the side of the Bohemian states during the uprisings. In 1619 he became the commissioner of the military unit of Mladá Boleslav, Kouřim and Hradec Králové, and was involved in a 50,000 strong regiment in the unsuccessful march on imperial Vienna. During the rebellion he bombarded the imperial palace in Vienna—with the emperor inside—which proved to be a bad move.
After
His widow Anna Salomena (born von Horschitz, who had married Kryštof) in 1625 married Hermann Czernin von Chudenitz, Eva's brother.
Music and influence
Harant's music was conservative, and in the style of the Netherlands composers of the previous generation. He used archaic techniques such as
Harant had a reputation as a fine instrumentalist and singer in addition to being a composer. In another irony, one of his Roman Catholic masses was performed in 1620, just before his execution, in a Catholic church in Prague, to great ceremony.
Musical works
- Missa quinis vocibus super Dolorosi martir – to the theme of madrigal by L. Marenzio "Dolorosi martir, fieri tormenti". The mass was published in 1905-6 by Czech musicologist Zdeněk Nejedlý.
- Motet Maria Kron, die Engel schon – for five voices, to the German text, 1604
- Motet Qui confidunt in Domino – for six voices, composed in Jerusalem, 1598
Fragments:
- Dejž tobě Pán Bůh štěstí – Czech wedding song
- Dies est laetitiae – an arrangement of a Christmas song for eight voices
- Motet Psallite Domino in cythara – for five voices
- Motet Qui vult venire post me – for five voices
The complete works of Kryštof Harant were published in 1956, by Czechoslovak publishing house KLHU.[1][2]
Literature
References
- ^ Černušák, Gracián; Štědroň, Bohumír; Nováček, Zdenko, eds. (1963). Československý hudební slovník I. A-L (in Czech). Prague: Státní hudební vydavatelství. p. 404.
- ^ Berkovec, Jiří, ed. (1966) [1956]. Kryštof Harant z Požic a Bezdružic. Opera Musica. Qui confidunt in Domino, Maria Kron, Missa quinis vocibus super Dolorosi martyr. Fragmenty. Prague: KLHU.
Further reading
- Koldinská, Marie (2004). Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic: Cesta intelektuála k popravišti (The Path of The Intellectual to the gallows): biography and legacy (in Czech). Praha, Litomyšl: Paseka. ISBN 80-7185-537-5.
- Article "Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- ISBN 0-393-09530-4
- Qui confidunt in Domino on youtube.com as performed by Prague Chamber Choir
External links
- Exposition of Kryštof Harant in the Bezdružice Castle
- Biography (in Czech)
- Dolorosi martir project with Harant Mass (in Czech)
- Recordings of K.Harant Opera Omnia
- Partial recording of cantus-firmus mass based on Marenzio madrigal
- Free scores by Kryštof Harant in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
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