The reception of Italian musical culture in the 17th-century Polish republic in the light of Polish musicological historiography

Italian-Polish relations, being one of the most essential issues for the history of music in the 17thcentury Poland, has been the subject of research since the very beginning of Polish musicology. The oldest dissertations, written by A. Chybiński and Z. Jachimecki, concentrated on two main issues: the documented residence of Italian musicians in Poland, and the dependence of the 17th-century Polish music on Italian compositions. The latter was described as „Italian influence on Polish music”. Many monographs and compilations which have appeared within the last 30 years (by such authors as A. & Z. Szweykowscy, B. Przybyszewska-Jarmińska, A. Patalas, T. Jeż, and others) focus not only on the issues mentioned above, but also on the question of the musical output of talented Italians who lived in the Polish Republic in the 17th-century. The scope of the research has been broadened with time to include factual material, which touched upon such issues as Polish reception of Italian repertoire and thought and the popularisation, in the 17th-century Europe, of both Italian and Italian-style music composed within the Polish territories. It is typical of the research papers of the last decades to offer different perspectives on the role of Italian musical culture in the 17th-century Polish Republic. This diversity is based on many thorough and original interpretations of local musical works of the time. The musical repertoire of the 17thcentury Polish Republic (both „Polish” and „Italian”) is analysed with respect to such aspects as court patronage of art and the role of music in cultural life. A wide spectrum of historical factors is also taken into consideration. „Polish” music, whose descriptions are based on a set of features characteristic of European (Italian) output, is shown not so much as being formed under „Italian influence” but as reflecting the reception of Italian composing style, which, at that time, was of universal significance