Dr. Grzegorz Mania, pianist and member of the Society for Poland’s Chamber Musicians [SPMK] gave us his recently published volume, Konteksty kultury—Konteksty edukacji, profesjonalne kształcenie I upowszechnianie muzyki [Cultural Contexts—Educational Contexts: the professional teaching and popularizing music], co-edited by Dr. Mania and Dr. Monika Gardoń-Preinl. This publication features a number of fascinating articles and case studies on many relevant topics, including education as a key to popularizing culture, various aspects of musical education, and development of various creative sectors. This volume will be a good addition to the PMC Library.
Dr. Krzysztof Urbaniak, professor of organ at the Łódź Music Academy gave us his book, Sztuka Registracji w kręgu północnoniemieckim od XVI do XVIII wieku [The Art of Organ Registration in North German Circles from the 16th to the 18th Century], published by Unum Editions in Kraków. Dr. Urbaniak also donated to us the complete two-volume edition of compositions by Daniel Magnus Gronau: Choralvariationen für Orgel, published by Ortus Editions with extensive introduction texts in German, English and Polish. Co-edited with Martin Rost, this publication is the result of their discovery in 2012 of a microfilm in Newberry Library in Chicago showing the manuscript of variations on chorale preludes composed by Martin Gronau (ca. 1700-1747). Held in the library of St. John’s church in Gdańsk until 1945, they were considered lost after World War II. This unique edition is prefaced with a fascinating article by Martin Rost on Gronau’s Chorale Variations and followed by Krzysztof Urbaniak’s essay on the instruments Daniel Magnus Gronau used during his time as organist at St. Catharine’s (1724-1730) and at St. John’s (1730-1747) churches in Gdańsk. Detailed notes in both articles on instrument specifications and registration are certain to be of great interest to every serious organist since they provide a fascinating look into the north German organ performance practice.