Most of the information about Henselt’s concerts and musical events could be found in the Intelligenzblatt. This periodical described the activities of the Municipal Band and singing societies. It also covered events at the Municipal Theatre and churches, as well as performances by invited stars at venues around the town. There is a good chance that Henselt read the Intelligenzblatt, which also published articles about music, the sale of sheet music and musical instruments.
Bolesławiec residents acquired their respect for music and their practical skills in playing and singing at school. Music lessons were an important part of education. At the Royal Orphanage, three hours of music lessons were held each week. Singing was taught mainly; in the second class, rhythm, correct musical notation and singing exercises were also introduced. After completing the course, every pupil had to be able to perform monophonic melodies, a chorale and a motet, as well as sing a canon. Pupils were also required to participate in church and state celebrations, during which various occasional vocal pieces were performed.
The Teachers’ Seminary and Theodor Drath
Meeting such high standards required an appropriately educated teaching staff. The three-year education provided at the Teachers’ Seminary was of a high standard and enjoyed a good reputation. Many graduates took pride in having studied at the institution.
Music was regarded at the seminary as an indispensable element of a complete education. Future teachers were taught singing, diction and organ playing.
One of the most gifted educators at the Royal Seminary and Orphanage was Theodor Drath. We may assume that Theodor and Adolf could have known each other. Drath began working at the seminary on 1 August 1864; he was then 36 years old and already an experienced musician. He was a versatile teacher: he gave piano and violin lessons and taught harmony, singing and music theory. He was also a respected choir and orchestra conductor, as well as a composer. Henselt may have been invited to concerts that Theodor Drath organised at the Royal Orphanage and Teachers’ Seminary. Singing and music-making enhanced all school and state celebrations.
The Evangelical Gymnasium and Nessler
The Evangelical Gymnasium also prided itself on a high level of music education. Concerts organised there were an integral part of the school year. Music was performed during important school celebrations. Melodies, chorales, motets (polyphonic musical compositions—ed.) and patriotic hymns predominated. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the Student Band (Schülerkapelle) began operating at the gymnasium. Concerts at the Evangelical Gymnasium benefited from the good acoustics of its assembly hall, which opened in 1864.
In 1861, a man named Nessler was appointed music teacher. At the gymnasium, he taught music to the third and fourth classes and directed the choir. In 1862, the number of music lessons was increased to seven hours per week, and two years later to eight. Thanks to these changes, Nessler expanded the curriculum by introducing major and minor scales and exercises in various keys. As a result, by 1864 the gymnasium already had two choirs: mixed and male.
Municipal Bands
Adolf von Henselt and his wife could also have attended numerous concerts by municipal bands. They were held outdoors or at dining establishments. They served as opportunities for entertainment and social gatherings.
The first mention of the instrumental ensemble existing in Bolesławiec appeared in the periodical “Bunzlauer Sonntagsblatt” in 1843. The ensemble, known as the Music Corps (Musik Corps), consisted of trumpeters. The Corps’s concerts could be heard—and people could even dance to them—in Skała (Hohlstein) or in the brewery hall in Dąbrowa Bolesławiecka (Eichenberg).
Another municipal band conductor, Carl Stolz, advertised in local newspapers, organising subscription concerts in the gardens of the Shooting House. This was a series of several concerts, with a one-week break between them.
Between 1850 and 1855, Bolesławiec newspapers published more than 50 announcements concerning the activities of the Music Band under the direction of Carl Stolz, attesting to the ensemble’s great concert activity. Henselt could have attended a concert organised by Stolz’s band in 1859 in the hall of the Inn Under the Russian Tsar (Zum Russischen Kaiser).
Singing Societies
In nineteenth-century Bolesławiec, as in other European countries, there was a rich tradition of domestic music-making. Singing was the most widespread form. Around 19 singing societies operated in Bolesławiec—associations bringing together people for whom singing was a hobby. The most important choirs included “Liedertafel”, “Liederkranz”, “Germania” and “Singakademie”.
The societies organised musical entertainment evenings, sometimes inviting well-known soloists. Subscription concerts—series of concerts that attracted considerable interest—were also popular. At conductor Oswald Knauer’s benefit concert in 1857, the “Liedertafel” ensemble performed arias and ensemble parts from operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn. In the second part of the concert, contemporary newspapers reported, a popular choral work with words by Friedrich Schiller and music by Andreas Romberg was performed in Bolesławiec.
The Theatre in Bolesławiec and Bolesławiec Churches
Music could also be heard in Bolesławiec’s theatre and churches. In 1857, the arsenal building was rebuilt for use as a theatre. After the reconstruction, the theatre could accommodate 650 spectators at a time. The theatre season usually took place in winter. In 1857, more than 20 announcements of theatre events appeared in the Bolesławiec press. In May 1862, after returning from St Petersburg, Adolf von Henselt could have gone to the theatre in Bolesławiec to see two operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute.
The organisation of concerts in Bolesławiec churches, during which vocal and instrumental works were performed, was also among the town’s major musical events. Our hero from Gierałtów could have attended a concert in June 1861 at the Evangelical church and heard Haydn’s “The Creation” performed by as many as 140 choristers.
Did Henselt attend musical events in Bolesławiec? We will not find this information in the historical records. It is possible that the world-class concerts in St Petersburg, as well as concerts by himself and guests at his estate, were enough for him. This does not change the fact that, an hour’s carriage ride from his residence in Gierałtów, he had a musical centre with many interesting concerts in Bolesławiec.
Text based on: Musical Life in Bolesławiec in the Nineteenth Century. Kinga Pacek. Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec. Bolesławiec 2006
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