Polonica
Polish connections of lute music (c. 1600)

Michał Gondko (Switzerland) - lute

17th century European manuscripts and printed sources of lute music preserve many "polonicos": pieces of music with Polish connections. The repertoire is large, characterized by an abundance of sources, but for the most part there are no references to authorship.
The most ambitious Polish contributions to the lute repertoire are associated with the following figures: Wojciech Długoraj (1557/1558–after 1619), Diomedes Cato (1555–1628), Jakub Reys (c. 1550–1605) , Kasper Sielicki (ca. 1570–?) – the latter probably studied under the Długorajs and was Cato's junior colleague at the Royal Court in Kraków.
Michał Gondko is not only one of today's most famous performers of Renaissance music, but also one of the most consistent researchers and interpreters of Polish musical heritage. As a soloist and member of the self-founded ensemble "La Morra", Michał regularly performs in Europe, the United States of America, China, Japan and the Middle East.