Johannes Vodnianus Campanus (also Ionnes Campanus Vodnianus, cs, Jan Campanus Vodňanský , ''Jan z Vodňan'' or ''Jan Kampánus Vodňanský'') (27 December 1572 – 13 December 1622) was a Czech

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

, composer, pedagogue, poet, and dramatist. He was born in Vodňany (hence his surname), in southern Bohemia. He studied at the University of Prague and in 1596 and was made Master of

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

there. He became a teacher in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Kutná Hora Kutná Hora (; medieval Czech: ''Hory Kutné''; german: Kuttenberg) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The centre of Kutná Hora, including the Sedlec Abbey and its ossuary, was designa ...

. From 1603 he taught

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

at the University of Prague. He also taught

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and Latin

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

. He was repeatedly appointed as dean, prorector, and rector of this university. Campanus was a

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hus ...

before renouncing this faith and becoming a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in 1622.

Works

Campanus usually wrote his works in Latin, but also wrote occasionally in Czech, Greek, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. Some of his works, like the play ''Břetislav und Jitka'' (''Bretislaus'') (1614), were forbidden, because they were critical of the

dukes of Bohemia Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

. His works were recognized in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

for their metrical perfection. Campanus' first collection of musical works, ''Sacrarum odarum libri duo'', was published in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

in 1613. The ''Sacrarum odarum'', which includes ''Rorando coeli'', contains primarily short vocal works set in a simple, homorhythmic style. *''Turcicorum tyrannorum qui inde usque ab Otomanno rebus Turcicis praefuerunt, descriptio'' (1597) *''Heilige Oden/Posvátné ódy (Umdichtung der Psalmen Davids/Přebásnění Davidových žalmů'') *''Cechias'' (a history of Bohemia in verse form) *''Bretislaus'' (play) *Elegie der Angst (Elegie o strachu) *Bitte um Frieden (Prosba o mír) His

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of note ...

s include: *''Ad Jehovam'' *''Ad puelli Jesuki cunas'' *''Rorando coeli'': ''Rorando coeli'' has two

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

s. They imitate one another throughout. The double choir technique utilized in this

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Marga ...

evokes the more complex antiphonal works of Campanus' contemporaries in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Poems

*''Tristitia (In lectulo quaero meo)'' *''Surge iam linquens (Surge iam linquens thalamum tepentem)'' These were published in 1612, and can be found in the ''Cantica canticorum'' in ''Odaria'', LIII, od. 17. They were set to music by Jan Novák in the twentieth century.

Death and legacy

He died in Prague. A historical novel was published about him in 1909 by

Zikmund Winter Zikmund Winter (27 December 1846 - 12 June 1912) was a Czech writer and historian. The author of many historical novels and essays, he maintained an interest in Bohemian life from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. He died in 1912 and he ...

, called ''Mistr Kampanus: historický obraz''.

Sources

University of Mannheim biographical source

Lawrence Kaptein, Rorando Coeli

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campanus, Johannes Vodnianus 1572 births 1622 deaths 16th-century Bohemian people 17th-century Bohemian people 16th-century Bohemian writers 17th-century Bohemian writers 16th-century classical composers 17th-century classical composers Czech Renaissance humanists Hussite people Czech poets Czech male poets Czech composers Czech male composers Choral composers Rectors of Charles University Charles University alumni People from Vodňany Renaissance composers