Jan Ponikowski ‒ kantor Kościoła Mariackiego w Krakowie

Abstract

A composer Jan Ponikowski (Latin ‒ Joannes Ponicovius) was an active musician and the cantor of St. Mary’s Church in Cracow in the late 16th century. On 17th September 1973 the Library of Jasna Góra Monastery housed an unusual discovery ‒ an old print entitled Procesja na Boże Ciało (English Corpus Christi Procession). This edition contains texts along with the musical notation supplement. One of the secrets it reveals is the so far unknown name of Jan Ponikowski, signed in the musical notation as the composer of three polyphonic vocal works. These are: A hymn O salutaris hostia (English O Saving Host), a responsory Homo quidam fecit caenam magnam (English ‒ Man has prepared a great feast) and a mixed sequence Lauda Sion Salvatorem (English ‒ Sion, lift us thy voice and sing). The article is the source of information about the Procession, as well as constitutes a reflective description of the process of popularizing Jan Ponikowski’s composition: beginning with the first publication in the Jasna Góra Monastry annual Studia Claromontana (vol. 1. Jasna Góra Częstochowa 1981, pp. 217-236), its presentation on the Ars Chori Festival performed by the Częstochowa Chamber Choir of the National Philharmonic in Częstochowa and conducted by Krzysztof Pośpiech (on the 21s1 January 1988), to the moment that these works were included in the Śpiewnik staropolski (English Old-Polish Songbook; issue no. 2: Pieśni na rok liturgiczny, Kraków 1996, pp. 50-55).