Bakfark [Bacfarc, Bakfarc, Bakfarkh, Bakffark] [Greff alias

Bakfark, Greff Bakfark], Valentin

Peter Király

https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.01825
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001

Updated in this version

updated, 16 September 2010

(b Brassó [Kronstadt], Transylvania [now Braşov, Romania], 1526–30; d Padua, Aug 22, 1576).
Hungarian lutenist and composer. His biography, formerly founded on inadequate documentation and
misconstruction of available facts, has been badly distorted; more recently discovered evidence and
reinterpretation of received data allow a far more accurate story to be given. Bakfark’s family
belonged to the German minority in Transylvania; the Hungarian form ‘Bálint’ for his Christian name,
common in modern scholarship, is not found in contemporaneous sources. From 1565 he preferred the
form ‘Greff alias Bakfark’ for his surname, which has also undergone variation in spelling in modern
scholarship beyond what occurred during his lifetime. Bakfark’s father Thomas was a lutenist, and so
were his brother Michael (probably) and Michael’s son Johannes (two dances ed. in Valentini Bakfark
opera omnia, iii, appx 1–2). Valentin Bakfark’s date of birth was formerly believed to be 1507 (or 1506/
7) on the evidence of his epitaph in S Lorenzo, Padua, according to which he died in 1576 at the age of
69. Other documents make it probable that he was born between 1526 and 1530.

Information from Bakfark himself, presented in a deed of János Zsigmond, Prince of Transylvania, in
1570, asserts that as a young boy he showed musical talent and was taught as a music apprentice at
the court of the Hungarian King János I Szapolyai (ruled 1526–40). A Kronstadt document of 1536 tells
of a lutenist being sent with his son (probably Bakfark and his father) to the king. According to the
partly damaged 1570 deed, Bakfark’s master in Buda was a learned court musician, possibly Italian, of
János I. The exact identity of this person is obscure, but some characteristics of Bakfark’s works
suggest indeed an Italian teacher. In the preface to his Kraków publication of 1565 Bakfark referred to
the excellent musicians of Pope Leo X whom he followed in his youth; this is probably an allusion to
Mathias Marigliano of Milan (formerly musico segreto to Leo X), in Hungarian royal service between
around 1538 and 1544.

Although it has been assumed that after the death of János I (22 July 1540) Bakfark left Hungary and
went to France or possibly to Italy, the deed of 1570 states that from 1540 Bakfark ’served laudably
many years’ János’s widow, Queen Isabella Jagiełło (who resided in Transylvania from 1542). Bakfark
left her court in 1549 and went to Poland to seek employment. In Kraków on 14 May he was rewarded
for his playing by King Zygmunt II August (brother of the widowed queen of Hungary), and from 8 June
1549 he appeared among the Polish court musicians. On 15 June he was officially admitted as an
instrumentalist (‘fistulator’). On 7 September 1550 he married in Kraków Katharina Narbutowna, a
widow from Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania).

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In autumn 1551 the king was visited in Vilna by his uncle Albrecht of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia,
and it was probably on this occasion that Bakfark became acquainted with the duke, an influential
patron until at least 1562 or 1563. Bakfark appeared later in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), Albrecht’s
city of residence, and also met the duke during his visits to Poland. He did not, however, act as an
agent of the duke, as has been assumed owing to a misunderstanding of a letter from Bakfark to
Albrecht of 1552. With Albrecht’s support, Bakfark left the Polish court in February 1552 and travelled
to Italy by way of Germany. In Nuremberg he (probably by chance) encountered Philipp Melanchthon,
who recommended him to the Fugger family in Augsburg. However, military actions in southern
Germany forced him to return to Poland. In September, after some months at the court, he left
Zygmunt August’s retinue in Königsberg and went to France (perhaps through Italy).

While in Lyons Bakfark published his first lutebook, which he dedicated on 23 January 1553 to Cardinal
François Tournon, Archbishop of Lyons. According to a letter from Duke Albrecht (1554), Bakfark
appeared at the French court - he probably accompanied Cardinal Tournon there in May - and also in
Rome at the papal court. He returned to Königsberg about spring 1554 and rejoined the Polish king’s
court in May. Royal accounts and other documents show that from this time he stayed with the court
continuously, leaving it only for short periods. (His frequent travels in Poland and Lithuania have been
misunderstood: they were not separate journeys of his own, but part of the court itinerary.) Soon after
his return in 1554, on Albrecht’s recommendation, the king increased Bakfark’s salary, making him one
of the best-paid musicians of the Polish court; he continually received rises as well as gifts.

Within ten years of service Bakfark had amassed considerable wealth: he bought a house in Vilna in
1559; in the same year Duke Albrecht intervened on his behalf in a letter to Zygmunt August, which
mentions some property given to Bakfark by the king; in a document of 1566 Bakfark referred to his
estates (bona) in Vilna and its environs. His social status, fame and popularity increased immensely
during his Polish years. While in Poland in 1552–6, János Zsigmond, son of Bakfark’s Hungarian royal
patrons, ennobled Bakfark and presumably his brother Michael.

Bakfark’s actual service in Poland lasted until May or June 1565. About this time he travelled to Vienna
to request a privilege (obtained on 16 July) for his second lutebook from the Emperor Maximilian II.
Bakfark then returned to Kraków to take part in the process of publication. Although he dedicated the
work to Zygmunt August on 15 October, he did not present it to the king in person. He remained in
Kraków, but by the end of 1565 he had decided to transfer into Maximilian’s service. His motive for the
sudden change is not known (there is no evidence for his political activity, as has been suggested). He
left Poland in June 1566. In the meantime his possessions had been plundered by Polish soldiers,
possibly in revenge by the king for his disloyalty.

On 1 July Bakfark joined Maximilian’s court, where his position was similar to the one he had left
behind. He received the second highest (briefly the highest) salary among the musicians, comparable
to that he had enjoyed in Poland. During his service at the Habsburg court he followed the emperor in
his retinue to Hungary and Bohemia. His second marriage, to Juliana Taxear of Innsbruck, occurred
most likely in 1567 or 1568. In 1569 Bakfark was accused of involvement in a Hungarian rebellion
against the emperor. After some hesitation he returned to Maxmilian in early October. He was
arrested, but seems to have been released very quickly, since he left for Padua early in December.

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Immediately thereafter, Bakfark entered into the service of János Zsigmond Szapolyai, Prince of
Transylvania. In 1570 the prince rewarded the lutenist with the estate of a whole village close to his
own residence in Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia, Romania). In late summer or autumn 1571, some
months after the death of the prince, Bakfark left Transylvania for Padua where his family had
remained during these years. He settled there close to the university and probably had pupils among
the foreign students; his contact with them is well documented. Bakfark, his wife and their children
(one daughter and three sons) all died during the plague of 1576. He was buried in S Lorenzo, Padua,
on 23 August.

The Bakfarks’ neighbour and executor of Bakfark’s wife’s will, the famous lute maker Wendelin
Tieffenbrucker (Wendelio Venere), compiled an inventory of their goods, which proves that Bakfark did
not destroy his manuscripts as legend had it. The inventory records, besides printed editions of
Josquin, Palestrina and Pietro Joanelli Bakfark’s own Kraków lutebook and three tablatures in folio, two
of them described as manuscripts. In 1578 Tieffenbrucker, together with the ‘natio germanica’ at the
university, erected a memorial for Bakfark in S Lorenzo.

Bakfark’s fame caused his name and Polish sobriquet ‘Węgrzynek’ (‘the little Hungarian’) to become a
part of Polish speech. The Polish proverb concerning those who ‘pick up the lute after [or in the
presence of] Bakfark’ first appeared in print in 1566. Bakfark’s name was mentioned in Polish
literature into the late 17th century, becoming a figure of legend. He was celebrated by poets, among
them the famous Jan Kochanowsky (1530–84). In the next century the poet Andrzej Morsztyn wrote
that he ‘never wanted to be Bakfark or [Antoine] Gallot’. Foreigners also praised Bakfark: Melanchthon
called him an enchanting musician (1552), and the papal nuncio found him excellent (1560). The
Hungarian Bishop A. Dudith, sent by Maximilian II as ambassador to Poland, characterized him as a
marvellous and unique master of his art (1566), which mirrors Duke Albrecht’s statement in his letter
to Zygmunt Augustus of 1559: ‘one rarely finds anyone comparable in his art, and hardly a king has
such a musician’. The Paduan lutenist Giulio Cesare Barbetta commemorated Bakfark in his 1582
lutebook with a Passo’e mezo ... detto il bachffart, based on a popular German dance-tune (ed. in
Valentini Bakfark opera omnia, iii, appx 3).

Bakfark’s extant works, all for solo lute, date from his Polish years. More than three-quarters are
strictly faithful intabulations of motets, chansons and madrigals by Arcadelt, Gombert, Clemens non
Papa, Josquin and others. Bakfark’s fantasias are composed in a dense three- or four-part contrapuntal
texture with consistent use of points of imitation. They show the influence of the vocal works of
Gombert, Clemens and Willaert, and probably more immediately of the instrumental ensemble
ricercares that appeared in Italy during the 1530s and 40s. The ‘recercati’ of Bakfark’s 1553 Lyons
publication are among the first such compositions for the lute. They are a clear departure from the less
contrapuntal and formally looser fantasias of Bakfark’s predecessors Francesco da Milano, Alberto da
Ripa, Luis de Narváez and others. All Bakfark’s compositions are ornamented with remarkable taste
and variety. The frequent use of stereotyped formulae, typical of many contemporaneous lutenists, is
absent from his output (with the exception of cadences). Bakfark’s works are notably difficult; high
left-hand positions and barré fingerings occur frequently.

Works

all for lute

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 Edition

Valentini Bakfark opera omnia, ed. I. Homolya and D. Benkő (Budapest, 1976–82)
[HB]

Intabulatura Valentini Bacfarc transilvani coronensis liber primus (Lyons, 1553)

ed. HB, i [1553]

Valentini Greffi Bacfarci pannonii harmoniarum musicarum in usum testudinis

factarum tomus primus (Kraków, 1565)

ed. HB, ii [1565]

9 fantasias: 4 in 1553 (HB, i, nos.1–4), 3 in 1565 (HB, ii, nos.21–3), 2 others (HB, iii,
nos.34–5); arr. of no.4, HB, i, appx; HB, iii, no.33 is not a fantasia but an intabulation;
HB, iii, no.34 seems to be a pasticcio, at least partly quoting from Gombert’s motet,
Ave Sanctissima; HB, iii, no.35 is a parody of Clemens non Papa, Rossignolet

32 intabulations (14 motets, 10 chansons, 7 madrigals, 1 ?Pol. song): 16 in 1553 (HB,

i, nos.5–20), 9 in 1565 (HB, ii, nos.24–32), 7 others (HB, iii, nos.33, 36–41); arr. of
7 7
HB, i, no.11, 1573² , PL-Kj Mus.ms.40598; arr. of HB, i, no.18, 1573²

arr. of HB, i, no.19, PL-Kj Mus.ms.40598; HB, iii, no.33 intabulates Arcadelt, De mes
ennuys; HB, iii, no.41 intabulates Sandrin, Doulce mémoire

Doubtful works

‘Fantasia V.B.’, D-DEl Anhaltsche Landesbücherei BB 12150

7
Non dite mai, galliard (?intabulation), HB, iii, no.42; arr. in 1556³², 1573² , UA-LV
1400/1

Passamezo vom Ungern, formerly Königsberg Stadtbilbiothek, Ms. Gen. 2.150 (lost)

‘Gagliarda V.B.’CH-Bu IX.70

Pass’emeso detto L’ongaro, ‘Valentim Bachsen’, Italy, Castelfranco Cathedral

Bibliography
H. Opieński: ‘Bekwark lutnista’, Biblioteka warszawska,2 (1906),464–85
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A. Koczirz: Österreichische Lautenmusik im XVI. Jahrhundert, DTÖ, 37, Jg.18/2 (1911), 32-35

H. Opieński: Beiträge zu Valentin Bakfark’s Leben und Werk (diss., U. of Leipzig, 1914)

E. Haraszti: ‘Un grand luthiste du XVIe siècle: Valentin Bakfark’, RdM, 10 (1929),159–76

H.-P. Kosack: Geschichte der Laute und Lautenmusik in Preussen (Kassel, 1935),13–19, 99

O. Gombosi: Bakfark Bálint élete és művei (1507–1576)/Der Lautenist Valentin Bakfark: Leben
und Werke (1507–1576) (Budapest, 1935/R1967 in Ger. only with further bibliography)

D. Benkő: ‘Bakfark Problems I. (Lasso-Bakfark “Veni in hortum meum”)’, SM, 17 (1975),297–313

G. Nussbächer: ‘Zur Biographie von Valentin Greff-Bakfark’, Forschungen zur Volks- und
Landeskunde, 25/1–2 (1982),103–5

I. Homolya: Bakfark (Budapest, 1984)

G. Nussbächer: ‘Precizări cu privire la biografia lui Valentin Greff-Bakfark’ [Corrections

concerning the biography of Bakfark], Studii de muzicologie, 13 (1984),139–48

I. Szabó: ‘Bakfark Bálint VIII. fantáziájának zenei mintája’ [The musical model of Bakfark’s
Fantasia VIII], Magyar zene, 26 (1985),398–9

P. Király: ‘Újabb adatok és néhány korrekció Bakfark Bálint lengyelországi működésével

kapcsolatban’ [New data and some corrections about Bakfark’s work in Poland], Magyar zene,
26 (1985),406–30

P. Király: ‘Bakfark Bálint adománylevele’ [Bakfark’s deed], Magyar zene, 28 (1987),88–100

P. Király: ‘Mikor született Bakfark?’ [When was Bakfark born?], Magyar zene, 30 (1989),41–54

P. Király: ‘Adalékok Bakfark Bálint életéhez és munkásságához’ [Materials for Bakfark’s life and
work], Magyar zene, 31 (1991),339–46

P. Király: ‘Bakfark hagyatékának inventáriuma’ [The inventory of Bakfark’s estate], Muzsika,

35/12 (1992),25–7

L. Virágh: ‘Bakfark Balint chanson-intavolacioi’ [Valentin Bakfark’s chanson intabulations],

Magyar zene, 34 (1993), 439–44

P. Király: ‘Bakfark Padovai végrendelete és hagyatéka’ [Bakfark’s testament and estate in

Padova], Muzsika, 38/6 (1995),18–20

P. Király: A lantjáték Magyarországon a XV. századtól a XVII. század közepéig [Lute playing in
Hungary from the 15th century to the mid-17th] (Budapest, 1995),103–10, 179–91

L. Virágh: ‘Les mises en tablature de Valentin Bakfark’ [The tablature writing of Valentin
Bakfark], Le concert des voix et des instruements a la Renaissance, ed. J.M. Vaccaro (1995),
689–696

J. Trilupaitiene: ‘Vilnius als Musikzenrum des Grossfurstentums Litauen’, Musica Baltica:

Interregionale musikkulturelle Beziehungen im Ostseeraum (Frankfurt, 1997), 144–50

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E. Deák: ‘“Albo Juss Dalej”, ein Chanson von Sandrin in Bakfarks Transcription’, Die Laute, 1
(1998),18–23

P. Király: ‘Vanentin Bakfark’, Beiträge zur Musikgeschichte der Siebenbürger Sachsen, ed. K.
Teutsh (Kludenbach, 1999), 7–47

F. Piperno: ‘The Lute at the Court of Guidubaldo II. Della Rovere Duke of Urbino’, Die Laute, 2,
(2000) 18–20

P. Király: ‘Egy nemzetközi hírő virtuóz Magyarországról: Valentin Bakfark’ [Valentin Bakfark: an
internationally renowned virtuoso from Hungary], Symphonia Hungarorum: Magyarország
zenekultúrájának ezer éve, ed. J. Kárpáti (Budapest, 2001), 55–63

E. Deák and I. Szabó: ‘Bakfarks “IX. Fantasie”: offenbar ein Pasticcio’, Die Laute, 6 (2005), 65–8

P. Király: ‘Non dite mai — ein Bakfark zugeschriebenes Lautenstück in einer Krakauer
Lautentabulatur’ (forthcoming)

See also

Lute, §8(iv): Repertory., v) The Netherlands, Spain and eastern Europe.

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