Charśnicki, K. (EN)

Charśnicki K. (not Ph.), †5 February 1686 Krzyżanowice (near Pińczów), Polish composer, a Norbertine. In 1674, already as a member of the order, he obtained a bachelor’s degree at the Krakow Academy, and in 1681, a master’s degree. From 1683 until his death, he was associated with the Norbertine monastery in Krzyżanowice. It is likely that he can be identified as Andrzej Chaśnicki, parish priest in Krzyżanowice. Only two of Charśnicki’s vocal-instrumental concertos have survived, both in manuscript 5272 in the Jagiellonian Library collection: Aeterna Christi munera and Rex gloriose martyrum. Both compositions use melodies from the corresponding hymns. The material basis for the Aeterna… concerto is a hymn harmonized by J. Różycki, preserved in Krakow in the Wawel collections.

Literature: Musicalia vetera. Katalog tematyczny rękopiśmiennych zabytków dawnej muzyki w Polsce, vol.2: Zbiory muzyczne proweniencji podkrakowskiej, ed. Z.M. Szweykowski, iss. 1, complied Z. Surowiak, Krakow 1972; K. Charśnicki Concerto a 8 vocibus Aeterna Christi Munera, complied with an introduction by Tadeusz Maciejewski, Warsaw 1995.