Marcin Leopolita

Marcin Leopolita (also Martinus Leopolita; ; composers of the 16th century. He attended the Jagiellonian University (Collegium Maius) and may have studied under the Polish composer Sebastian z Felsztyna and Jan Jelen of Tuchola.

Life Leopolita was born in Lwów in the Kingdom of Poland (present-day Lviv, Ukraine). By the age of 20 he was a member of the royal music ensemble at the court of Zygmunt August, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. apparently becoming court composer there in 1560. After 1564, he returned to Lviv, where he lived until his death in 1589.

Few compositions by Leopolita have survived. Four motets written in Latin (, , and ) are preserved in organ tablature. Of these, can be restored with confidence to its original vocal form. his connection with the manuscript is uncertain.

Leopolita's five-part mass is the only complete exant 16th-century Polish mass, and the , which adds a sixth voice (a second ) has the distinction of being the earliest extant example of six-part Polish polyphony. It is based on themes from four Polish vernacular Easter songs—hence the designation 'Paschalis'—of which is the most prominent.

Recordings Early Polish Masses Gorczycki: Missa Paschalis Leopolita: Missa Paschalis Mielczewski: Missa super "O Gloriosa Domina" Jaroslaw Malanowicz (organ) Il Canto CD Accord - ACD018 Waclaw z Szamotul: Songs and Motets and Leopolita: Missa Paschalis Collegium Vocale Bydgoszcz Dux - DUX0248 recorded 1992 and 1994