Tomasz Szadek

Tomasz Szadek (1550 – 1612) was a Polish composer, singer, and cleric of the late Renaissance. He was a representative of the late style of the Franco-Flemish school in Poland.^[1]

Gustave Reese gives a birthdate of 1550, but no location.^[2] Little is known about his activities prior to his appointment to the royal chapel in Kraków, other than that he had received a baccalaureate degree sometime before his arrival in 1569. He became a curate at the cathedral in the early 1570s, where he also heard confessions. He joined the Capella Rorantistarum, a group of male singers for the Sigismund Chapel of the Wawel Cathedral, and remained with them until 1578.^[1] Towards the end of his life, the association of cathedral vicars put him on trial, accusing him of poor performance in administrative duties and having an immoral lifestyle.^[3]

Szadek's surviving music was all written for the male voices of his choir. It is in a style equivalent to the work of the late Franco-Flemish school. Of his writing Reese observes that he "shows talent for melodic line, but his polyphonic technique is unresourceful."^[2] Much of his writing is homophonic. One of his two masses is based on a chanson by Thomas Crecquillon – Pis ne me peult venir, and is of the parody type. The other is also a parody mass, and based on a Christmas carol.^[1]

Works

• Two masses:
  • Officium Dies est laetitiae (1578)
  • Officium In melodiam motetae Pisneme (1580)
• Three antiphons:
  • Introit Vultum tuum
  • gradual Haec dies
  • communion Pascha nostra

References

• Mała encyklopedia muzyki, Stefan Śledziński (red. naczelny), PWN, Warszawa 1981, ISBN 83-01-00958-6 (in Polish)
• Słownik muzyków dawnej Polski, A. Chybiński, Kraków 1948/49 (in Polish)

Notes