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This paper examines the libretto of the opera Boris Goudenow (1710) by the composer and theorist Johann Mattheson in the context of Pseudo-Demetrius dramatic works written until around the end of the Baroque period. Pseudo-Demetrius dramatic works, i. e. works that depict events in early 17th century Russia and feature the character of False Dmitry I and often Boris Godunov, are not a rare phenomenon in European literary history. Most of them were written in the 19th century in Germany and Russia, where another and much more famous opera about tsar Boris Godunov was written by Modest P. Mussorgsky. However, the first playwrights began to deal with the two monarchs, Godunov and especially False Dmitry I, only a few years after the death of both tsars. The very first drama about Pseudo-Demetrius was written by Lope de Vega in Spain, followed by Italian writers, and the same theme appeared in England by the end of the Baroque. A comparison of these dramatic works shows that the prevailing religion of the authors' homeland played a significant role in their understanding of the characters of False Dmitry and Boris, which was also related to the sources from which they drew information when studying the subject matter. In Catholic countries, they generally used rather Jesuit and Catholic sources, and therefore understood False Dmitry I as the rightful successor and a virtuous Catholic, i. e. the opposite of the way he was described in hagiographical and historiographical works in Russia. In Protestant countries, the religious nature of False Dmitry's adventure played a secondary role. This is not unlike the opera by Mattheson, who not only wrote the music to Boris Goudenow but also the libretto. In his opera he depicted the period when Godunov allegedly pretended to be persuaded to ascend the throne, but his character is not negative (unlike Boris in the Catholic dramas) and his peripeties stand in the background of the love plots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to examine the musical composition Six Pieces for Sixth-tone Harmonium or String Quartet (1928) by Alois Hába. Given that the author of the paper is currently the only musician capable of playing a sixth-tone harmonium, as well as the only one to have recorded the piece in question, the study includes valuable findings made while playing the piece, and explains how a sixth-tone harmonium is played. It also describes in detail the sixth-tone harmoniums built for Alois Hába by August Förster, and finishes by analyzing the composition's form and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]