Since its beginnings the Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle in Szczecin has resounded with music played by itinerant and folk artists gathered in the Castle chambers during feasts, masses and other festivities. The members of the Griffin family also took part in them.
The most important figure of the music world associated with the Ducal Court was Dulichius (1562–1631), called “Pomeranian Orlando di Lasso”, a bandmaster at the court of Phillip II who himself was a patron of the arts. Dulichius not only worked at the court, but also taught at the adjacent Paedagogii Stetinensis and nearby St. Mary’s Church, creating both secular and church music.
With the end of the Griffin dynasty music at the Castle chambers shared the fate of the building which gradually lost its meaning as a centre for cultural life and started to serve an administrative and military function. Only after World War II, as a result of the formation of a vocal and instrumental ensemble and countless events, musical life at the Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle regained its splendour.
Spring Guitar Concerts, Autumn Music Salon, Sunday Afternoon Concerts, Open Air Summer Concerts, International Youth Music Workshops, Ducal Music Evenings in the Castle, to name but a few, are regular music events permanently inscribed in the history of the Castle.
Early music, Orthodox Church music, folk, rock and virtually every kind of instrumental and vocal production resounded in the historical halls and courtyards. The Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle also sponsors unique projects, such as live music shows with silent films played outdoors.
