ADVENT
SONGS FROM
THE TOWERS

carillon & Tubicinatores Gedanenses

November 29 | Saturday

6:00 p.m. – St. Catherine’s Church tower

7:00 p.m. – Christmas Market stage

8:00 p.m. – Main Town Hall tower

PERFORMERS:

Monika Kaźmierczak – carillon

Tubicinatores Gedanenses:

Emil Miszk, Agata Ławicka, Piotr Kowalkowski – trumpets

Tomasz Przybysławski – trombone

Paweł Szewczyk – drum

The tradition of playing on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent was carried out in a characteristic manner and was part of Gdańsk’s tradition of musical signaling the end of the church year as early as the 18th century. On this evening, the towers of Gdańsk’s churches: St. Mary’s, St. John’s, St. Catherine’s, and Holy Trinity, resounded with the melodies of Protestant chorales performed every hour by trumpeters. The concert began at seven or eight in the evening. When the chorales were sounded on one of the towers, the carillon would ring out. In the following hours, the towers of other churches would play… (Popinigis Danuta, Carillons and Carillon Music of Old Gdańsk, published by AM, Gdańsk 2014, p. 183).

Our concerts contribute to the popularization of this unique cooperation between the carillon and wind instruments, possible only in Gdańsk, and to the continuation of a centuries-old tradition. The repertoire to be performed during the concerts includes Protestant chorales and Polish Advent songs historically performed at this time, directly related to the church calendar, including: Wachet auf, Wie soll ich dich empfangen, Gott Dank durch alle Welt, Nun komm der Heyden Heiland – Stworzycielu gwiazd świecących, Gottes Sohn ist kommen, Warum willst du draussen stehen, Oto Pan Bóg przyjdzie, Archanioł Boży Gabryjel.

The so called Turmpfeifer were playing music from Gdańsk towers as early as in the 15th century. They were the sworn city guards, members of the guild called Turmpfeiferdienst. They were playing music from the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Church and St. Catherine’s Church. By the end of the 16th century they were joined by the third musician playing on the tower of St. John’s Church. Their professional responsibilities included warnings, welcoming important guests with fanfares and announcing the closing hours of the city gates. Additionally, the Turmpfeifers on the St. Catherine’s Church tower played short bugle calls every half hour and a longer tune – probably religious songs – every hour. Moreover, they played on the church tower during sunny days.

Their simple bugles were soon transformed into a more sophisticated music called Turmmusik. The musicians were performing the roles of heralds and accompanying the envoys, as well as bugling the City Council edicts and rulings. They were also fulfilling the function of field trumpeters”Feldtrompetern” during military expeditions. Since the middle of the 16th century they were obligated to participate in the Blessed Virgin Mary Church masses and play on the Town Hall tower twice a day (except for Friday), from Spring to St. Martin’s Day (11 November). Since the middle of the 16th century, apart from playing on the tower the musicians also sang in the church choir.

At least since the mid-19th century carillon started accompanying the musicians on the St. Catherine’s tower. Its history on this tower dates back to 1738.

We have the pleasure to invite you to come back to the old Gdańsk!