Outside Poland little is known about Polish music in the renaissance
and baroque periods. Even in Poland itself hardly anything is
known about Mikołaj Zieleński. The collection from which
the pieces on this disc have been taken is his only extant music
publication and only through this do we know that he was organist
and director of music to Wojciech Baranowski, archbishop of Gniezno
and primate of Poland from 1608. It is sometimes suggested he
had been in Italy as his music is strongly influenced by the polychoral
style of Giovanni Gabrieli - his collection of 1611 was printed
in Venice, but there is no evidence of his ever having been in
Italy.
It was the archbishop who made this publication possible, and it is
to him that Zieleński dedicated his collection: "I
began this work at your instigation; whilst in your service
I finished it and it is thanks to your generosity and prodigality
that I was able to be published". The archbishop was
a music-lover. "During his stay in Italy, he learnt to
sing prettily without going flat, something rare amongst clerics",
Giovanni Paolo Mucante, Master of Ceremonies at the papal
court, wrote. His court in Łowicz consisted of a vocal
and instrumental ensemble, and he valued splendour in liturgical
music. He wanted Zieleński to compose offertories in
modern style which could be used as Propers during Mass.
As already indicated Zieleński's music reflects the Venetian polychoral
style. Although at the time his collection was published this
style had been supplanted in Italy by the new concertato,
the style of Gabrieli was still new to Poland, as Zieleński's
dedication indicates: "Offertories and Communions composed
for the first time by a Pole in the new style". His closeness
to Gabrieli is underlined by the alternative title he gave
to his music: 'sacrae symphoniae' - the same title Gabrieli
used for his compositions. The two choirs are used in various
ways, sometimes in imitation, sometimes in contrast. Especially
important are the contrasting rhythms and the juxtaposition
of polyphony and homophony, two ways of expressing the text
and enhancing the dramatic character of his music. The two
choirs have their own organ part, which is not a basso continuo
as it is written as a four-part score. In this recording trombones
are also used which in some pieces double the vocal lines.
This is certainly correct, considering Zieleński's indebtedness
to Gabrieli.
The collection also contains some Communions for one voice and organ.
These are not monodies like those being written at the time
in Italy, for instance by Giulio Caccini. The solo part is
rather like the top part of a polyphonic piece to which ornaments
are added in the manner of the diminutions which were so popular
in Italy in the second half of the 16th century. It seems
Zieleński has notated these ornaments but I am pretty
sure Emma Kirkby has added some of her own. This may be historically
justified, sometimes it is a bit too much, and some are rather
unnatural.
She never sings with the choir, and that is just as well as the singing
of the choir is rather different from Ms Kirkby's. The main
problem is that the choir with its 27 voices is too large
and is just not flexible enough fully to realise the rhythmic
shifts and to express the text. It is not easy to discover
how Zieleński has translated the text into music, as
the booklet doesn't contain the lyrics. The disposition of
the choir is also less than ideal: there are eight sopranos
and just four contraltos. The balance between the six tenors
and the nine basses isn't much better. In the pieces for a
high and a low choir the sopranos and the basses are too dominant.
As an effect of the size of the choir the trombones are not
as clearly audible as they should be.
It is a shame this attempt to perform Zieleński's music hasn't
turned out really well. I am not saying this is a bad recording:
considering the size of the choir I am surprised how much
of the character of Zieleński's music comes out. But
with a smaller and more agile vocal ensemble and a greater
variety of instruments - in particular cornetts and violins
- the recording would have been much better. We have to wait
for a really good recording, since Zieleński's music
definitely deserves the attention.
Those who are interested in Zieleński could look for another disc
of his music; it’s not ideal either but in general somewhat
better. Fortunately only a couple of pieces appear on both
discs. The performers are the Bornus Consort and the vocal
and instrumental ensemble Linnamussikud de Tallin, directed
by Marcin Bornus-Szczycinski. This recording was released
in 1996 on the Accord label (202662). For this review I have
used some information from the booklet of that disc.
Johan van Veen
