RENAISSANCE OF POLISH BAROQUE / MORAVIAN AUTUMN

MIKOŁAJ ZIELEŃSKI

Offertoria et communiones totius anni
Ecce Virgo concipiet
Deus firmavit orbem terrae
Viderunt omnes fines terrae
Fantasia II a tre
Vox in Rama
Vidimus stellam eis
Responsum accepit Simeon
Fantasia I a tre
In monte Oliveti
Salve festa dies
Mitte manum tuam
Ascendit Deus
Spiritus Sanctus docebit vos
Video caelos apertos
Benedictus sit Deus Pater
Exiit semo inter fratres
Ortus de Polonia
Iustorum animae in manu Dei

Wrocław Baroque Ensemble
conductor Andrzej Kosendiak

Download concert programme here.

In the 16th century Venice became one of the most important centres of musical life in Europe. The activities of numerous talented musicians of St Mark’s Basilica, a dynamic growth of instrumental music, the adoption and creative development of polychoral techniques and the growth of thriving music printing houses all contributed to this propitious state of affairs. To transalpine composers from the turn of the 17th century, composing in the Venetian style and having their works printed by local printing houses represented a mark of belonging to Europe’s musical elite. The only Polish composer to fulfil these criteria was Mikołaj Zieleński. His two-part work entitled Offertoria totius anni and Communiones totius anni was published in 1611 by the Venetian printer Giacomo Vincenti.

Offertoria and Communiones contains all of Zieleński’s 113 known works. These compositionswere probably written over a period of at least several years – judging by their stylistic variety as well as their generic affiliation not always in accord with the edition’s title. The composer clearly used this opportunity to add to his previously prepared offertories and communions, other works, which included motets and instrumental fantasias. The Offertoria consist of polychoral works arranged in accordance with the liturgical calendar, generally intended for two four-part ensembles and varied in terms of pitch. Rather than the liturgical order of the church calendar, the arrangement of Communiones is determined by its performance forces: from works for single vocal part with organ accompaniment, via two- and three-part pieces (bicinium and tricinium) with instrumental accompaniment, through to four-, five- and six-part motets.
Mikołaj Zieleński’s work is uniquely bound up with Wrocław – until 1942 the town’s City Library (Stadtbibliothek) housed the only extant complete set of partbooks comprising the Venetian edition. The set came from collections at the St Bernardine Church. Unfortunately, in the turmoil of war half the bookparts were lost. Surviving books are presently stored at the Music Collection Department of Wrocław’s University Library.
Compositions featured in this programme illustrate the generic variety of Mikołaj Zieleński’s output. Participating in their performance alongside vocal parts are instruments both those suggested by the composer as well as others used on the threshold of the 17th century. The compositions are arranged in a manner of a narrative about events related to the beginning and end of Jesus Christ’s earthly existence and the consequences of the Resurrection.