Szadek, Tomasz (EN)

Szadek, of Szadek, Tomasz, †after 21 July 1611, Polish composer, son of Maciej from Szadek. In 1560, he began his studies in Krakow and obtained a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts (as confirmed by an inscription in a later copy of one of his works). He was admitted to the court of Sigismund Augustus on 25 June 1569 as an adolescens cantor, and he continued to be mentioned in the accounts until 1574, during the interregnum following the king’s death. It is not certain whether he was the same Tomasz who, as a royal musician, served as a cleric in the Rorantist ensemble from September 1572 to February 1573 – the source may, in fact, refer to a different musician, Tomasz of Sącz. From the Rorantine documents, it is known that Szadek was appointed to this college as a prebendary in 1575, having received priestly ordination earlier that year. He was active in the Rorantist ensemble until 1578; later, at Wawel, he served as a cathedral vicar and penitentiary, and was also entrusted with administrative duties. He remained in Krakow until the end of his life, but from the 1590s he was also the nominal parish priest in the village of Rudawa. Between 1602 and 1604, Szadek was accused of negligence in performing his duties, failing to repay debts, and inappropriate conduct. The last known document concerning him dates from 21 July 1611.

Szadek’s compositions, in keeping with their intended use by the Rorantists, were written for low voices. The years indicated alongside the masses – 1578 (Dies est laetitiae) and 1580 (Officium Pisneme) – most likely refer to the time of the compositions’ creation, as the copies themselves, especially that of the former, were made somewhat later. The mass Dies est laetitiae (in a copy lacking the Hosanna section and the Agnus Dei) is based on the melody of a Latin carol that was popular in Central Europe from the 15th century onward. Szadek employed it in various voices, most often as a cantus firmus (in equal note values or in a rhythmized and ornamented form), but also as a theme subjected to imitation. A distinctive feature of this mass is the introduction of the carol melody in the Gloria and Credo, with the original text of its first and second stanzas. The second cycle (Officium Pisneme) belongs to the missa parodia type. It is based on the five-voice chanson Pis ne me peult venir by Th. Crecquillon, whose structure Szadek follows closely at the beginning of each subsequent section (omitting the highest voice), but later transforms in interesting ways, generally refraining from supplementing it with new material. In doing so, the composer demonstrated both technical skill and an understanding of the concept of parody, linking the text of the mass with that of its model through a symbolic melody. The Introit Vultum tuum is based on an equal-tempered choral cantus firmus in the tenor; in three voices, there are imitations that are not melodically related to the cantus firmus. The Introit Vultum tuum is based on a chant cantus firmus in equal note values in the tenor; in the three other voices, there are imitative passages that are not melodically related to the cantus firmus. Polyphony clearly dominates Szadek’s work; chordal structures are introduced in masses only as a noema figure.

Literature: A. Chybiński Msza pastoralna Tomasza Szadka, “Muzyka Kościelna” III and IV, 1928 and 1929; P. Poźniak Technika parodiowania w mszy Tomasza Szadka, in: Musicae sacrae ars et scientia, Festschrift for K. Mrowiec, eds. S. Dąbek and I. Pawlak, «Roczniki Teologiczno-Kanoniczne» XXXIV/7, 1987; T.M.M. Czepiel Music at the Royal Court and Chapel in Poland c. 1543–1600, New York-London 1996; P. Poźniak Repertuar polskiej muzyki wokalnej w epoce Renesansu, Krakow 1999 (it includes an edition of Szadek’s motet in the appendix); T. Marszał Tomasz Szadek (z Szadka, Schadek): kompozytor, śpiewak ksiądz, «Biuletyn Szadkowski» 7, 2007; P. Poźniak Intro. to: Tomasz z Szadka, Dwie msze z rękopisu Kk L.1 i motet, ed. Piotr Poźniak in «Musica in Ecclesia Cathedrali Cracoviensi Audita» vol. 5, Krakow 2016.