Sarmatian Chant I: Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki & The Piotrków Chant

Featuring

Robert Pożarski
Bornus Consort
Chór Sarmacki
Concerto Antemurale
Kwartet Wokalny Tempus
Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki

Anonymous

Did you know?

1/7

Composer's Artistic Vision

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki was almost exclusively a composer of religious music, due to his deep involvement in priestly duties and his role as chapel master.

Composer Biography

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki, born between 1665 and 1667, was a Polish composer who formally changed his name from Gorczyca to Gorczycki after becoming a priest.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumption Parish Church in Chełmno, Poland, over three days in September 2013.

Performer Biography

Robert Pożarski, the artistic director of this album, is a cantor, singer, and scholar of liturgical manuscripts, who has studied Medieval and Byzantine chant interpretation.

Compositional Technique

Gorczycki's Missa Rorate integrates monophonic Piotrków chant melodies with polyphonic vocal writing, often using three voices to entwine a fourth singing the chant.

Historical Context

The Piotrków chant refers to liturgical music from Polish dioceses published between the 16th and 17th centuries, which adapted Roman liturgy to Polish customs after the Council of Trent.

Composer Biography

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki served as the chapel master (Magister capellae musices Ecclesiae Cathedralis Cracoviensis) at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków from 1698 until his death in 1734.