Mikołaj Radomski, also called Mikołaj z Radomia and Nicholas of Radom, was an early 15th-century Polish composer. He was connected with the court of Władysław Jagiełło and wrote polyphonic music renowned for its expression of religious contemplation.

Life and career

Mikołaj z Radomia was a Polish composer working in the first half of the 15th century, probably in Kraków, known only through his signatures on a few compositions: „N. de Radom”, „Nicolaus de Radom” and „Mycolay Radomsky”. Searches for the composer's identity have not brought any results so far. Hypotheses have been put forward in the literature (for example H. Musielak) linking the identity of Mikołaj with any person in the sources with that name (e.g. „Nicolaus clavicembalista dominae reginae Poloniae” from 1422, „Nicolaus Geraldi de Radom”, who studied in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, where he gained his master's degree, and in the years 1389–91 was named in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

acts as a spiritual person born in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

and linked with the

diocese, a few Mikołajs from Radom studying in the Kraków Academy in the years 1420, 1426 and others, a few signed in manuscripts from the second half of the 14th century and the second half of the 15th century from the

Jagiellonian Library The Jagiellonian Library (, popular nickname ''Jagiellonka'') is the library of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and with almost 6.7 million volumes, one of the largest libraries in Poland, serving as a public library, university library an ...

and the psaltery of the

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...

in 1460) but have not been confirmed to date. Compositions signed with the name M. and to date not identified as works of other composers are noted with black mensura in two Polish collections of polyphonic music from the second quarter of the 15th century (1440?): in manuscripts of the Świdziński Library, later the Krasiński Library signature 52, now the National Library signature III 8054 and a manuscript in the Załuski Library, next the Imperial Library in St Petersburg signature F. Lat. I 378 and next in the University Library in Warsaw, then the National Library, lost during the second world war and now known through microfilm copies (incomplete) and hand-written transcriptions made from the original by M. Szczepańska and kept in the PAN Institute of Art in Warsaw; both manuscripts are published in «Antiquitates Musicae in Polonia».

Recordings

*''Mikołaj z Radomia - Complete Works'' Ars Nova Ensemble, Jacek Urbaniak DUX Records 1990

References

*Mirosław Perz, ''The structure of the lost manuscript from the National Library in Warsaw'', No. 378 (WarN 378). Chloe. Beihefte zum Daphnis. Bd 21. From Ciconia to Sweelinck. Ed. by A. Clement and E. Jas. Edit. Rodopi B.V. Amstersdam *Mirosław Perz, ''Mikołaj Radomski,'' Polski Słownik Biograficzny, tom XXIX, 1986, s. 737-739 *Mirosław Perz, ''Kontrafaktury ballad w rękopisie Krasińskich nr 52 (PL-Wn8054).'' Muzyka, Warsaw 1992 nr 4 *J. R. Wojcik, ''Nicola Radomski primo compositore polifonico polacco'' . Roma, Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra, 1956 *Henri Musielak, ''W poszukiwaniu materiałów do biografii Mikołaja z Radomia''. Muzyka, t. XVIII, Warsaw 1973, nr 1 (68) *Katarzyna Morawska, ''Encyclopedia of Music PWM'', vol.6 {{DEFAULTSORT:Radomski, Mikolaj Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Polish composers 15th-century Polish people 15th-century composers