MUSIC AND MUSICIANS AT THE CONGRESS OF MONARCHS IN LUTSK IN 1429 (RECONSTRUCTION)

Abstract

In 1429 a congress of European monarchs took place in Lutsk, which was held in order to allow the Lithuanian prince Vytautas to crown and thus could receive complete sovereignty for his state. There is only one written testimony about the participation of musicians in the congress, however, with the help of other sources, it is possible to reconstruct musical instruments and the type of music performed, as well as the number and nationality of musicians of prince Vytautas. The Lutsk congress was organized by the servants of prince Vytautas and it is therefore logical to assume that the musicians of the Lithuanian prince also participated in it. All available information about his musicians comes from two sources – the accounts of the Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło and from the expense book of the city of Marienburg, the capital of the Teutonic Order. Despite the fact that between the years 1399 and 1427 the five Great Masters changed, the musical contacts between the Lithuanian principle and the Teutonic Order are characterized as diverse and long-lasting. An active exchange of musicians was held, the prince's friends listened to German musicians in Marienburg, and the princess received present – modern, rare musical instruments. Also, at the Lutsk Congress, another governor of the Gediminids dynasty – the cousin of Prince Vytautas, Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło took part. Information about his musicians with a high degree of confidence can be extrapolated to the court musicians of Prince Vytautas. In addition to the fact that the Polish king was also born and raised in Lithuania, he also brought his own musicians from there to Krakow. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of his musicians were of Ruthenian origin. In view of this, we can assume that Prince Vytautas served Ruthenian musicians too. Thanks to the list of musical instruments of the royal chapel of Władysław II Jagiełło, we can assume that similar instruments were used at the court of Vytautas. In general, musical groups of Europe at that time were clearly divided into two groups – loud and soft musical instruments. This is also confirmed by the accounts of the Teutonic Order. In the first group there were wind instruments, and in the second group – stringed instruments. By the end of the 15th century, these two categories of instruments were not integrated into one ensemble. The human voice is usually combined with soft instruments. About the participation of "loud" instruments in the Lutsk Congress, documentary evidence is preserved, the use of "soft" ensemble can only be guessed.