Petrus Wilhelmi de Grudencz or Piotr of Grudziądz (1392 – c. 1480) was a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
from
Graudenz (Grudziądz). His compositions mainly consist of songs and
motets
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 preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Engl ...
considered characteristic of the culture of
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
in the Middle Ages.
Biography
de Grudencz began his studies at the
University of Kraków in 1418. It is believed that he later worked in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, then in the vicinity of
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
. In the 1440s he was a chaplain to
Frederick III in Vienna, although was not a singer in the chapel but moved principally in various university circles. In the last years of his life he worked in
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
. In 1448, he was at the episcopal court in
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
. In 1452 he traveled to Rome.
While fewer than twenty of his works have survived, including ''Kyrie fons bonifitatis'' and the five-voice motet ''Panis / Panis / Pange / Patribus / Tantum'', they can be securely attributed on account of containing acrostics of the composer's name.
[See list of work]
here
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Bibliography
* Paweł Gancarczyk, 'Local, International or Central-European? Repertories of Mensural Polyphony in Fifteenth-Century Silesia' In ''Imitatio - Aemulatio - Superatio? Vokalpolyphonie des 15./16. Jahrhunderts in Polen, Schlesien und Böhmen'', ed. Jürgen Heidrich (Münster, 2016), pp. 23–35.
* Paweł Gancarczyk, 'Petrus Wilhelmi de Grudencz und die mitteleuropäische Musikkultur des 15. Jahrhunderts' In ''Mittelalterliche Literatur und Kultur im Deutschordensstaat in Preussen: Leben und Nachleben'', ed. Siegliende Hartmann, Jarosław Wenta, Gisela Vollmann-Profe (Toruń 2008), pp. 97–106.
External links
*
Biography and list of works
(in Polish)
Notes
1392 births
1480s deaths
Medieval male composers
People from the State of the Teutonic Order
People from Grudziądz
15th-century composers
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