Gallus, Jacobus Handl

Jacobus Handl Gallus (1550 Ribnica? – 1591 Prague)

Opus Musicum, Prague 1586–1590

dark brown leather binding with blind blocking decoration of a medallion with the imperial emblem 155×195 mm, acquired towards the end of the 16th century, Olomouc Archbishopric – Archdiocesan Museum in Kroměříž, A 4193

Slovenian polyphonist Jacobus Handl Gallus was one of the greatest renaissance composers ever to work in Moravia. From 1578 he lived in Louka u Znojma, Zábrdovice and he was also employed by Olomouc bishop Stanislav Pavlovský. In the collection of the St. Maurice Church in Kroměříž a volume of prints of his great work, titled Opus Musicum, has been preserved. It was printed between 1586 and 1590 by Prague printer Jiří Nigrin (Černý). In individual books there are motets for important holidays and feasts of the church year, such as the feasts of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. The collection of Handl’s motets is one of the most complicated and extensive music prints from the end of the 16th century in the Czech lands.
Jitka Kocůrková