"Zielenski was a composer, organist and Kapelmeister at the court of Wojciech Baranowski, Primate of Poland. Little is known about the life and work of Mikolaj Zielenski, who lived at the beginning of the 17th century. This is indeed too little, given the scope and historical significance of his works. The music created due to his special gifts allowed Zielenski to take his place in the history of music, where he is even considered the best Polish composer before Chopin. Szymon Skrowolski, a historian who lived at the same time as Zielenski, classified him among the group of Polish composers who were educated in Rome: "in media Roma exercitati". ... It is quite certain that Zielenski studied Palestrina's work, which was recognized by the Council of Torrent as a stylistic example of eleventh-century ecclesiastical polyphony. He also became acquainted with the work of Gabrieli (Andrea and his daughter Giovanni)... The mastery of the polychoric style ...gave Zielenski the reputation as the "greatest Venetian" in Poland.
