The Speciálník Codex

The most important Utraquist collection of polyphony called the Speciálník Codex (» CZ-HKm Ms. II A 7) originated in the last decades of the fifteenth century (c. 1485–1500), most probably in Prague. The manuscript comprising 307 paper folios of the size 375x275 mm, whose contemporary name means a special collection of repertory different from standard liturgical books, is the oldest-known testimony of various kinds of polyphony cultivated within the Utraquist church. Its main scribe, who started collecting music in the 1480s, seems to have been interested in creating a systematic collection of polyphonic music for the Mass liturgy (mass ordinary settings, motets, songs). The contents include Franco-Flemish polyphony composed between the 1440s and the 1470s (originating in the Low Countries, France, the Holy Roman Empire or Italy)[27] as well as compositions by local authors written in this style (with Latin and Czech texts) – next to the archaic repertory. This selection of music suggests that the collection was planned from the outset as a treasury of musical repertory to be used in an unknown Prague church, which had a Latin school and, later, a brotherhood of litterati as well. The Speciálník Codex shares several features with contemporary sources originating at the end of the fifteenth century in the neighbouring German-speaking regions (Bavaria, Saxony, Silesia).[28] Yet unlike these collections of exclusively contemporary music originating from the 1470s onwards,[29] the Speciálník Codex is partly a source of retrospective character. This could be owed to the demand of musical repertory at a newly-founded institution; we may also think of the above-mentioned redaction of polyphonic repertory within the Utraquist church, which probably took place in the 1470s or 1480s. This connection with the tradition of the archaic repertory can be shown mostly by the shared order of compositions.[30] The main scribe, however, also copied compositions by Franco-Flemish musicians active in the 1470s at the ducal court of Milan, some of them preserved in the Bohemian source only.[31] They are eloquent examples of a lively interest of Utraquist intellectuals in recently composed music and of contacts with important musical centres abroad. A work representing the modern repertory in the Speciálník Codex is the beautiful motet O gloriosa domina (» Hörbsp. ♫ O gloriosa domina, Ghiselin; » Abb. O gloriosa domina, Speciálník) by Johannes Ghiselin alias Verbonnet, whose career may never have taken him to Bohemia; he was active in Italy from 1491 until at least 1505 (Florence, Ferrara, Mantua) and can have been connected to Isaac.

Abb. O gloriosa domina, Speciálník

The four-voice motet O gloriosa domina by Johannes Ghiselin alias Verbonnet documents a Franco-Flemish style used in Italian centres such as Milan, Ferrara and Florence in the 1490s. Speciálník Codex (» CZ-HKm Ms. II A 7), p. 287.

Within the “modern” repertory (i. e. music composed in the style of Franco-Flemish polyphony) that is preserved in the Speciálník Codex, we also find several compositions of unquestionable Bohemian origin. These are latin cantiones, polyphonic settings of originally monophonic tunes known from older local sources, or compositions with a text in the Czech language. Even the oldest known song in Czech, the cantio Svatý Václave (Saint Wenceslas), appears here in a three-part polyphonic setting to the words Náš milý svatý Václave (Our dear Saint Wenceslas), with the cantus firmus quoted in the tenor voice and a virtuoso accompaniment of the two newly-composed outer voices.[32]

Until today, no documents have been found about any activity of a professional music ensemble (e. g. a court chapel) in Bohemia in the second half of the fifteenth century. A payment made at Regensburg in 1481 to „the singers of the King of Bohemia“ is ambiguous as there were two kings: Matthias Corvinus, who then controlled Northern and Eastern parts of the country, and Wladislas Jagiello, who ruled over central Bohemia.[33] As regards performers of polyphonic repertories, we can think most probably about pupils and teachers of Latin schools or their graduates: educated and leading citizens, who formed the lay ensembles called the brotherhoods of litterati since the end of the fifteenth century.[34] The Speciálník Codex was copied by more than 30 scribes,[35] so that the manuscript was until recently interpreted as a source written for an unknown Prague brotherhood of litterati. But the dating of the codex and its content (at least in the older fascicles) rather connect it with an unknown Latin school, which needed a repertory suitable for celebrating the Mass liturgy, sung by pupils and their teachers.[36] The brotherhoods of litterati consisted of adult men only: thus they could sing polyphonic music composed for voices of the same range only, which was designated as sociorum or ad voces aequales, but not any repertory written for a mixed ensemble with high discants (i. e. boys voices). The oldest sources documenting the existence of the litterati brotherhoods originated around 1490, which corresponds with the dating of the repertory ad voces aequales in the younger fascicles of the Speciálník Codex.

The existence of the Utraquist church as an alternative to the Catholic one significantly influenced the content of the music manuscripts, where we have found several features that are typical for the musical culture of Bohemia. On the other hand, it is clear today that the Utraquist church did not hinder the penetration of new compositions from a Catholic milieu: contemporary compositional techniques were even reflected in pieces of local origin. The multi-layered content of the manuscript sources shows that, beside the everpresent plainchant, the specific tradition of liturgical music in Bohemia incorporated songs and motets, which originated in the fourteenth and the first half of the fifteenth centuries. At the same time, we encounter compositions of “modern” European composers of the time, such as Johannes Puillois, Johannes Tourout, Walter Frye, John Bedyngham or Antoine Busnoys, whose music was well known in Central Europe since around 1460.[37] The “modern” repertory also consists of early compositions by Josquin des Prez and his contemporaries such as Isaac and Ghiselin, which appeared in European sources during the 1480s and which reached Bohemia and other central European regions very early, probably from Italy.[38]