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ASPECTS OF MUSICAL LIFE IN BRASOV–BARSA LAND, TRANSYLVANIA, DURING THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD

D. C. Ibanescu

Abstract

This research aims to mirror how the Renaissance musical life was manifested in Brasov-B?rsa Land, a specific area of Transylvania that has demonstrated its European vocation, from the old to the present day. Although Brasov and B?rsa Land didn`t play a major role during the Renaissance, the importance and the increasing amplitude gained by music leads to the development of certain music schools, centres, of special significance in the history of Transylvanian artistic culture. In Brasov, during the Principality of Transylvania, the values of humanism and the secular art of the Renaissance are promoted and supported by commercial routes that function as genuine cultural corridors. Transylvanian Saxons showed desire and ability to develop their own musical culture, broadly taking up the tendencies promoted in Europe. The humanist scholar Johannes Honterus has music at the heart of his preoccupations, his most important work - A harmony of different poets for the use of the literary school of Brasov - being also a source of inspiration for the Romanian musicians of our time. The cityВ’s concert life enriches itself with the practice of instrumental music for organ and lute. Among the organists, we distinguish personalities such as the Ostermayers - father and son. The art of the lutists spread all over Transylvania, Brasov being the place where Valentin Greff-Bakfark, one of the great Renaissance virtuosos of the lute, was born. Today, his compositions, transcriptions and lute arrangements are well known, but we are convinced there are still many musical manuscripts of others, hidden in the shadow of churches, libraries and private collections - unchecked, unknown and unvalued to this day in Brasov and in B?rsa Land. That is why we believe that it is necessary to bring to light, edit and make available to musicologists and interpreters alike these cultural treasures of inestimable value.

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