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.
[Zygmunt M. Szweykowski. "Tomasz Szadek." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/27286 (accessed December 19, 2011).]
Gustave Reese gives a birthdate of 1550, but no location.
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.
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.
[''Słownik muzyków dawnej Polski'', A. Chybiński, Kraków 1948/49]
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."
Much of his writing is
homophonic. One of his two masses is based on a chanson by
Thomas Crecquillon
Thomas Crecquillon or Créquillon ( – probably early 1557) was a Franco-Flemish school composer of the Renaissance. While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably within the region loosely known at the time as the Low Countries, and he pro ...
– ', and is of the
parody type. The other is also a parody mass, and based on a Christmas carol.
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, (in Polish)
* ''Słownik muzyków dawnej Polski'', A. Chybiński, Kraków 1948/49 (in Polish)
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szadek, Tomasz
1550 births
1612 deaths
Polish composers
Renaissance composers
Polish male classical composers