MIKOLAJ Z RADOMIA (XV w.) Dziela wszystkie - CD

Complete works by Mikolaj of Radom (15th Century): "Alleluia"; "Magnificat"; "Ballada I"; "Gloria"; "Credo I"; "Ballada II"; "Gloria II"; "Credo II"; "Ballada III"; "Gloria III"; "Credo III"; "Historiographi aciem mentis" "As we approach the music of Mikolaj of Radom it is worth remembering that he was the first Polish composer whose talent and learning were of a European calibre: the first whose knowledge and skills allowed him not only to imitate foreign models but to contribute creatively to the development of European music. His work should be judged against the same exacting standards as compositions by this early 15th century contemporaries Ciconia, Pycard and Grenon, with no preferential treatment. Today, when interest in early musci has allowed us to discover hitherto unknown areas of musi, it is easier to place Mikolaj and his works on the musical mape of late Medieval Europe. Post-war research by Polish musicologists (notably by Miroslaw Perz) has enriched our knowledge about its beginnings to the end of the 13th century, at which time compositions from the School of Notre Dame of Paris where already current in the nunnery of the Order of St Claire in Stary Sacz. Thus Mikolaj of Radom, considered before World War II to have been the first Polish polyphonist, was working within a century-old tradition. As such his emergence loses its air of singularity, the more so if we realize that he was not active in a cultural void but in the capital of a powerful state growing in international importance and standing on the verge of a great spiritual emancipation." - Ewa Obniska. The music is performed by Ars Nova (Zespol instrumentow dawnych Warszawskiego Towarzystwa Muzycznego), under the leadership of Jacek Urbaniak. The group, which is one of the best in Poland, specializes in the performance of the 13th - 16th century European music.