Krzysztof Klabon

Krzysztof Klabon (ca. 1550 - after 1616), a Polish composer, singer and lute player, was born in Królewiec (Königsberg). Early in life he worked for the Wawel Royal court where he was Master of Music for King Stefan Batory. Subsequently he was first conductor of the Royal Chapel in Warsaw under King Sigismund III Vasa. Klabon composed masses, motets and songs which described the most important events in the history of Poland. His only extant work is a collection of six songs for four voices entitled "Songs of the Slavonic Calliope for the present victory at Byczyna" from 1588. They are settings of poems by the court poet Stanistaw Grochowski, which describe the struggle for the right to the Polish throne between Crown Hetman Jan Maximilian Habsburg. The struggle ended in a skirmish at Byczyna. Krzysztof Klabon composed the piece shortly after Grochowski described the events as a tribute to the victorious Crown Hetman Jan Zamoyski. Klabon also composed two songs for solo voice with lute accompaniment (no longer extant), which can be regarded as the first accompanied monodies in Polish music, at the same time heralding the end a cappella polyphone typical of the Renaissance and a dawn of a new period in the history of music - Baroque. (note from booklet: "Rex" Trombastic, by DUX Records)