Sebastian of Felsztyn (EN)

Sebastian of Felsztyn, *before 1490 (?) Felsztyn (Fulsztyn) near Sambor (now Skelivka near Sambir, Ukraine), †after 1543, son of Jan, Polish music theorist and composer. We know Sebastian of Felsztyn’s place of birth from the title pages of his works, which feature the terms “de Felstin” and “Felstinensis”; indeed there were two other places with this name, also established on the Herburt family estate, but they were founded later. Sebastian of Felsztyn enrolled at the artium liberalium faculty of the Kraków Academy on 29 November 1507, and obtained a bachelor’s degree there in 1509. According to J.D. Janocki, he studied at the expense of a local military official of Sambor, Andrzej Herburt, and then remained in Krakow and taught music. During his studies, he probably came into contact with J. Liban (who from around 1506 was a cantor at the parochial school at St. Mary’s Church), possibly with Heinrich Finck (although his stay in Krakow after 1505 is not documented), or possibly with Mikołaj of Chrzanów (who probably obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1513); he probably already befriended Erazm Ciołek, later abbot of the Cistercians in Mogiła, to whom he dedicated his edition of St. Augustine’s dialogues in 1536. On the title page of the treatise, which historians date to October 1517, Sebastian of Felsztyn is referred to as a presbyter, which indicates that he was ordained a priest in that year at the latest. Meanwhile, on the title page from 1536 he was refered to as: Sanociensis Ecclesiae parocus, which most likely means a lucrative prebend that did not require residence in Sanok. Janocki confirms this interpretation (using the phrase Praepositus Sanociensis) and adds that Sebastian of Felsztyn obtained the benefice thanks to the Herburt family; the patronage of this family is confirmed by the dedication of Sebastian of Felsztyn’s work in 1544 to Mikołaj Herburt, castellan of Przemyśl. This year’s publication is also the last known fact from the life of Sebastian of Felsztyn; W. Domański speculates that he may have died in 1552, as this was the year when the actual parish priest in Sanok changed, which was usually associated with the death of the beneficiary.

Sebastian of Felsztyn’s writings are educational in nature. The work dedicated to chant covers general topics such as the classification of music, its purpose and characteristics, as well as more practice-related issues concerning the musical scale, solmization technique, intervals, and church tones; these topics are illustrated with numerous musical examples. Researchers emphasize that Sebastian of Felsztyn drew on the latest literature of this kind, especially textbooks from the Cologne school, such as those by N. Wollick (1501) U. Burchard (1514), and in the 1524–25 version (which differs so much from the 1517 edition that it is sometimes considered a separate treatise) especially A. Ornitoparch (1517); at the same time, however, he made his own choices regarding the information provided, and above all, he used a specific layout of content determined by musical and didactic reasons, which in the first quarter of the 16th century was an exception, and only became generally accepted several decades later.

In his second work, Sebastian of Felsztyn provides a concise yet comprehensive discussion of the fundamental principles of rhythmics and mensural notation. It is considered completely independent, and only in the general structure and in some formulations concerning proportions have certain similarities been noted with the work of M. Schanppecher (published together with the treatise of N. Wollick, 1501); no source has been identified for the interesting musical examples, which appear to be the original work of Sebastian of Felsztyn. Three works by Sebastian of Felsztyn for low voices, accidentally preserved in the repertoire of the Rorate choir, are among the earliest examples of four-part music in Polish music. In all cases, the equal-note cantus firmus is accompanied by ornamental counterpoint, with the melodic lines sometimes connected in sequences of parallel thirds and tenths, and occasionally small imitations occur between them. The technique, conservative even for the first decades of the 16th century, maintains the Western European standard.

Literature: J.D. Janocki Janociana sive clarorum atque illustrorum Poloniae auctorum mecenatumque memoriae miscellae, vol. 1, Warsaw 1776; Statuta nec non Liber promotionum philosophorum ordinis in Universitate studiosorum Jagellonica…, ed. J. Muczkowski, Krakow 1849; Album studiosorum Universitatis Cracoviensis, ed. A. Chmiel, vol. 2, Krakow 1892; A. Chybiński Teoria mensuralna w polskiej literaturze muzycznej pierwszej połowy XVI-go wieku, Krakow 1911; A. Chybiński Biografia Sebastiana z Felsztyna, “Myśl Muzyczna” I, II, 1928, 1929; S. Łobaczewska O utworach Sebastiana z Felsztyna, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny” I, 1928/29; A. Chybiński Do biografii Sebastiana z Felsztyna, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny” IV, 1931/32; W. Domański Renesansowa teoria solmizacji Sebastiana z Felsztyna and Problem autorstwa traktatu „Modus regulariter accentuandi…”, in: Musica antiqua, Bydgoszcz, vol. 4, 1975, vol. 5, ed. E. Harendarska, 1978; E. Witkowska-Zaremba Ars musica w krakowskich traktatach muzycznych XVI w., Krakow 1986; W. Domański Teoria muzyki w traktatach chorałowych Sebastiana z Felsztyna, “Musica Medii Aevii” VII, 1986; Sebastian z Felsztyna: pisma o muzyce, ed. i trans. E. Witkowska-Zaremba, Krakow 1991; E. Witkowska-Zaremba Toni i modi w teorii musicae planae I połowy XVI wieku, “Muzyka” XXVIII, 1983; K. Morawska Renesans. 1500–1600, Warsaw 1994; T.M. Czepiel Music at the Royal Court and Chapel in Poland, c. 1543–1600, New York 1996; Notae Musicae Artis. Notacja muzyczna w źródłach polskich XI–XVI, ed. E. Witkowska-Zaremba, Krakow 2000; M. Wysocki Modalności dzieł motetowych kompozytorów polskich XVI wieku, thesis, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, 2021