Catedral de Gniezno, Polonia, 2012-04-06, DD 02

Mikołaj Zieleński (Zelenscius, fl. 1611) was a Polish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

and '' Kapellmeister'' to the primate Baranowski, Archbishop of Gniezno. Neither the date of his birth nor of his death are known; documents from

Płock Cathedral Płock Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Płocka), or the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Masovia, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Płock, in central Poland. It is an example of 12th-century Romanesque architecture and is the oldest an ...

state he was from Warka and show him to have been a member of the diocese in 1604 and organist in 1606, and in 1611 he married and was involved in a court case. The March 1611 dedication of his book places him at the Archbishop's court in

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a m ...

, and that Baranowski hired no replacement suggests he may have survived his patron, who died in 1615. Zieleński's only known surviving works are contained in two 1611 liturgical cycles of polychoral works, the ''Offertoria/Communes totius anni''. These were dedicated to the

Archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Wojciech Baranowski. The whole comprises eight part-books and a ninth book, the ''Partitura pro organo'', which constitutes the organ accompaniment. This publication contains in all 131 pieces written for various vocal and also vocal and instrumental ensembles, all with organ accompaniment. In addition to Offertories and Communions the two volume Venetian publication contains over a dozen other pieces, such as

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

s, antiphons, a magnificat, and even three instrumental

fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcor ...

s. In his compositions Zieleński relies on his own creative invention and does not, in general, make use of the '' cantus firmi.'' The few pre-existing melodies which may be traced out in his pieces are based not on plainsong but on the melodies of Polish songs. The sets consist of large-scale double- and triple-choir antiphons, as well as some monodic works typical of the '' Seconda pratica'' style of early Monteverdi. Zieleński's music is the first known Polish music set in the style of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

Works

*''Offertoria totius anni, Venetijs, Apud Iacobum Vincentium MDCXI 1611'' *''Mikołaj Zieleński, Offertoria et communiones'' *''Magnificat''

Sources

*Mirosław Perz, article "Mikołaj Zieleński" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2001. *Mikolaj Zieleński ''Opera omnia'' ed. W. Malinowski and Z. Jachimecki in ''Monumenta Musicae in Polonia'' (ser.a, i/1–) Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne S.A., (5 vols 1966–91
a 6th has appeared since

External links

*

at Polish Music Center (English)
Zieleński's ''Magnifikat''
performed b
Ensemble Europeen William Byrd
conducted by Graham O´Reilly 17th-century Polish people Polish Baroque composers Polish organists Male organists 17th-century keyboardists Polish male classical composers 17th-century male musicians {{Poland-composer-stub