Georg Knoff’s Collection in Gdańsk: Remarks on Collecting and Disseminating Printed Music

Georg Knoff, patricij iz mesta Gdansk, je proti koncu 16. stoletja ustvaril zbirko 267 glasbenih tiskov večinoma beneškega izvora. Avtor te razprave predvideva, da je Knoff glasbene tiske pridobival po poti neposrednih stikov z Benetkami. Zbirka očitno ni bila namenjena izvajanju glasbe, temveč bolj izrazu Knoffovega družbenega položaja.Georg Knoff, a patrician from Gdańsk, amassed towards the end of the sixteenth century a collection of 267 music prints, the majority of them originating from Venice. The author puts forward the hypothesis that Knoff obtained the editions by making use of direct contacts with Italy. The aim of the collection was not so much to provide repertory for performance as to emphasize Knoff’s social status

Waste paper as a music source: fragments preserved with the incunabula at the University Library in Wroclaw

Preserved with the incunabula at the University Library in Wroclaw are eighty-five fragments of music manuscripts. Alongside numerous antiphonaries, notated breviaries and missals, they also include a fragment with polyphonic music (PL-WRu XV Q1066). This contains three compositions typical of fifteenth-century Central European repertory. There are grounds for supposing that this fragment was written in Silesia during the second quarter of that century. Research into the music fragments from the University Library in Wroclaw has provided the author with a point of departure for discussing methodological issues. Questions are raised regarding the nature of fragmentary sources, with reference to the classification of historical sources proposed by Jerzy Topolski. The status of fragments differs from that of sources preserved intact, and this should be reflected in research procedures, such as the method of establishing provenance. The adoption of new methodological principles requires a critical re-examination of the interpretation of some musical fragments, including the sources preserved in Poland

Improvement of physical capacity in patients undergoing transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects

Introduction: Atrial septal defect (ASD) is the most common congenital cardiac anomaly diagnosed in adults. It often remains asymptomatic until the fourth or fifth decade of life. Significant left-to-right interatrial shunting is associated with the risk of heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and atrial fibrillation. Percutaneous ASD closure is a recognized method of treatment. Aim: To evaluate the clinical outcomes and physical capacity in patients undergoing transcatheter closure of ostium secundum ASD. Material and methods: One hundred and twenty adult patients (75 females and 45 males) with a mean age of 43.1 ±13.3 (17–78) years who underwent transcatheter device closure of ostium secundum ASD were analyzed. Clinical evaluation and transthoracic color Doppler echocardiographic study were repeated in all patients before as well as 1 and 24 months after the procedure. To assess the physical capacity symptom-limited treadmill exercise tests with respiratory gas-exchange analysis were performed in all patients before the procedure and after 24 months of follow-up. Results: The devices were successfully implanted in all patients. During 24 months of follow-up all patients showed significant clinical and spiroergometric improvement of exercise capacity, and a significant decrease of right heart chamber overload features on echocardiography. Conclusions: Transcatheter closure of ASD in patients with significant shunt resulted in significant clinical and hemodynamic improvement regardless of the baseline functional class

The mystery of Sacrae cantiones (Nürnberg 1597): remarks on Jacob Handl and 16th-century printing practice / Uganka zbirke Sacrae cantiones (Nürnberg 1597): pojasnila o Jacobusu Handlu in tiskarski praksi v 16. stoletju

A copy of Sacrae cantiones, a collection of compositions by Jacob Handl – Gallus published in 1597 in Nuremberg, is preserved as a unicum in Gdańsk and in Warsaw. However, this is not a new edition but merely a copy of the fourth volume of the composer’s Opus musicum, printed in Prague in 1590, with a changed title-page. The author presents arguments to show that the Sacrae cantiones were created on the initiative of Georg Handl, the composer’s brother and printer, who in this way hoped to increase the chance of selling the rest of the examples of the Opus musicum that remained in stock after Jacob’s death.Zbirka skladb Jacobusa Handla – Gallusa z naslovom Sacrae cantiones se je ohranila samo v enem izvodu, in to v Gdansku in Varšavi. To ni bila nova izdaja, temveč le ponatis četrtega zvezka skladateljevega monumentalnega dela Opus musicum, tiskanega v Pragi leta 1590, s spremenjeno naslovnico. Avtor razprave navaja razloge, ki kažejo na to, da je delo Sacrae cantiones nastalo na pobudo Georga Handla, skladateljevega brata in tiskarja, ki je na ta način upal povečati možnosti prodaje preostalih izvodov zbirke Opus musicum, ki so po skladateljevi smrti ostali še neprodani