Polish Baroque: Wrocław Baroque Ensemble present selections from Mikołaj Zieleński’s magnum opus

Gniezno Cathedral and Lake Jelonek, Poland, where Mikołaj Zieleński worked
(Photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0/WikiMedia)

Little is known of Mikołaj Zieleński beyond the fact that he published a major collection of works in 1611. On 14 August 2025, Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, under the direction of its founder Andrzej Kosendiak, will be giving us a chance to hear selections from Mikołaj Zieleński’s magnum opus Offertoria et communiones totius anni alongside Vivaldi’s Gloria RV 589 at St Martin in the Fields.

Wrocław Baroque Ensemble was founded in 2012 and it has specialised in historically informed performance of Polish renaissance and baroque music in particular, under the direction of founder and conductor Andrzej Kosendiak. The Ensemble is now a resident ensemble of the National Forum of Music (Nardowe Forum Muzyki – NFM) in Poland.

Mikołaj Zieleński (fl. 1611) was a Polish composer, organist and Kapellmeister to the primate Baranowski, Archbishop of Gniezno. His only known surviving works are contained in two 1611 liturgical cycles of polychoral works, the Offertoria/Communes totius ann, dedicated to the Archbishop of Gniezno, Wojciech Baranowski - eight part-books and ninth containing the organ accompaniment. 131 pieces in total, written for various vocal and instrumental ensembles, all with organ accompaniment. 

Full details from the St Martin in the Fields website.