Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice ( cs, Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic, 1564 – 21 June 1621) was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
nobleman, traveler, humanist, soldier, writer and composer. He joined the
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
Bohemian Revolt
The Bohemian Revolt (german: Böhmischer Aufstand; cs, České stavovské povstání; 1618–1620) was an uprising of the Bohemian estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty that began the Thirty Years' War. It was caused by both relig ...
in the
Lands of the Bohemian Crown
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of ...
against the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
that led to
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
. Following the victory of Catholic forces in the
Battle of White Mountain
The Battle of White Mountain ( cz, Bitva na Bílé hoře; german: Schlacht am Weißen Berg) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the n ...
, Harant was executed in the mass
Old Town Square execution
Old Town Square execution ( cs, Staroměstská exekuce) was the execution of 27 Bohemian leaders (three noblemen, seven knights and 17 burghers) of the Bohemian Revolt by the Austrian House of Habsburg that took place on 21 June 1621 at the Old ...
by the Habsburgs.
As a composer he represented the school of
Franco-Flemish
The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition or ...
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...
in
Bohemia. Harant is also noted for his expedition to the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
summarized in a travel book ''
'' (1608).
Life
Harant was born at
Klenová Castle, near
Klatovy
Klatovy (; german: Klattau) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.
Administrative parts
Klatovy is made up of 30 ...
, western Bohemia. From 1576 he studied singing and
counterpoint as a member of a local court band at
Innsbruck, at the court of
Archduke Ferdinand II, learning 7 languages, discovering his talent for music and the other arts and his interest in history, geography and political science. He returned to Bohemia in 1584 in a vain attempt to get a post at the court of
Rudolf II
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
, and so enlisted as a soldier, participating in the 1593 and 1597 campaign against
the Turks. In 1589 he married
Eva Czernin von Chudenitz – they had two children before she died in 1597. Kryštof married two more times. Leaving his relation Lidmila Markvartová z Hrádku to raise the children, in 1598 and 1599 he went to the
Holy Land as a pilgrim, wishing to visit the Holy Sepulchre with Eva's brother Hermann. He wrote about his experiences in a book entitled ''
'' which was published in Prague in 1608.
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
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, 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
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
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
Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants.
Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive in ...
,
Kouřim
Kouřim (; german: Kaurzim, Kaurzin, Kaurim) is a town in Kolín District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.
A ...
and
Hradec Králové
Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...
, 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
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
—with the emperor inside—which proved to be a bad move.
After
Frederick V Frederick V or Friedrich V may refer to:
* Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164–1170)
*Frederick V, Count of Zollern (d.1289)
*Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg (c. 1333–1398), German noble
*Frederick V of Austria (1415–1493), or Frederick III ...
succeeded to the Palatinate, he was appointed as a privy councillor and president of the Bohemian chamber, though this career was short-lived. After the defeat of the Protestant Czechs at the
Battle of White Mountain
The Battle of White Mountain ( cz, Bitva na Bílé hoře; german: Schlacht am Weißen Berg) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the n ...
in 1620 by the combined arms of
Maximilian
Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name.
The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names.
List of people
Monarchs
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459 ...
and
Tilly Tilly may refer to:
Places France
* Tilly, Eure, in the Eure ''département''
* Tilly, Indre, in the Indre ''département''
* Tilly, Yvelines, in the Yvelines ''département''
Elsewhere
* Tilly, Belgium, a village in the municipality of Viller ...
, the subsequent sack of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
by Imperial troops, and the assumption of office by the Emperor
Ferdinand II, Harant withdrew to his castle. He was captured there by
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
, arrested and taken to Prague, unsuccessfully pleading for mercy. As one of the twenty-seven Bohemian noble rebels, he was condemned to death and beheaded on 21 June 1621 by
Jan Mydlář
Jan Mydlář (1572–1664) was a 17th-century executioner from Bohemia. He is most known for the red hood-like mask he donned when performing his executions.
Old Town Square execution
Mydlář carried out the killings in the Old Town Square ex ...
in the Old Town Square, Prague, along with all the other leaders of the insurrection.
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
cantus firmus
In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.
The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tre ...
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
composition. Seven separate works survived, all sacred vocal compositions (the rest were lost when his property was confiscated as being that of an executed traitor). One of his pieces is a cantus firmus mass based on a
madrigal
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance music, Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque music, Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The Polyphony, polyphoni ...
by
Marenzio
Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance.
He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the f ...
(''Missa quinis vocibus super Dolorosi martir'')—a musical irony in that it combines a technique which went out of fashion a hundred years before with the music of one of Italy's most popular and progressive composers.
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
Zdeněk Nejedlý (10 February 1878 – 9 March 1962) was a Czech musicologist, historian, music critic, author, and politician whose ideas dominated the cultural life of what is now the Czech Republic for most of the twentieth century. Although ...
.
* 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
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, 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
Czechoslovak may refer to:
*A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93)
**First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38)
**Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39)
**Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60)
**Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
publishing house KLHU.
Literature
*''
'' (1608)
References
Further reading
*
* 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.
*
Gustave Reese
Gustave Reese ( ; 29 November 1899 – 7 September 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940) ...
, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.
*
Qui confidunt in Domino' on youtube.com as performed by
Prague Chamber Choir
External links
Exposition of Kryštof Harant in the Bezdružice Castle
Dolorosi martir project with Harant Mass
Recordings of K.Harant Opera OmniaPartial recording of cantus-firmus mass based on Marenzio madrigal*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harant, Krystof
1564 births
1621 deaths
16th-century Bohemian people
17th-century Bohemian people
Czech Renaissance humanists
16th-century classical composers
17th-century classical composers
Czech Baroque composers
Renaissance composers
Czech male classical composers
Classical composers of church music
16th-century writers
17th-century writers
Czech male writers
Czech explorers
Czech Protestants
Converts to Protestantism
Bohemian nobility
Executed revolutionaries
Executed Czech people
People from Klatovy District
People executed by Austria by hanging
People executed in the Holy Roman Empire by decapitation
Holy Land travellers
16th-century Bohemian writers
17th-century Bohemian writers
17th-century executions in the Holy Roman Empire
17th-century male musicians