Psałterz Dawidów: Psalm 25

In this first week of Advent here is another metrical version of Psalm 25, posted less than a month ago. This is from the Polish Psałterz Dawidów, of Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka: Psalm 25 - Mikołaj Gomólka/Jan Kochanowski - Choreia Kozacka, Jarosław 2016.

Psalm 11, Jan Kochanowski

The Psałterz Dawidów is a Polish metrical psalter translated and versified by Jan Kochanowski and published in 1579. Here are two renditions of Psalm 11 from that collection, the first set to the associated music of Mikołaj Gomółka, and the second set to an apparently more recent composition.



The lyrics can be found here.

David's Psalter: Psalm 23

Once again, metrical psalmody meets the Polish Renaissance in this wonderful performance of Mikołaj Gomółka and Jan Kochanowski's rendition of Psalm 23. Katarzyna Wiwer sings soprano, accompanied on the lute by Henryk Kasperczak.

Psalm 29: David's Psalter

Here is another performance of Psalm 29 from the Polish David's Psalter, arranged by Adam Cichocki and performed by the Exaudi Chamber Choir. There is a bit of interference from a cell phone ring tone at one point. Judging by the number of performances of this piece on YouTube, it would seem that this is the best known and best loved of Kochanowski and Gomółka's Polish metred psalms.

David's Psalter: Two more recordings

I have recently discovered and purchased two more recordings of the Polish David's Psalter of Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) and Mikołaj Gomółka (c. 1535–after 1591). The first is Mikołaj Gomółka Melodie na Psałterz Polski Opera Omnia, recorded in Kraków in 2016. Here is a sample, Psalm 122:


The second is Audite Gentes! Psalms of the Golden Age, featuring the solo voice of Paulina Ceremużyńska, singing to guitar and percussion accompaniment. This was released in 2015. Here is Psalm 1:


Both recordings are available from iTunes, amazon.com and similar sources.

Incidentally, last sunday afternoon, the Central Presbyterian Church Choir, in which my daughter and I sing, led a festival of Psalms. Among the pieces we sang were two from David's Psalter, Psalms 1 and 29, using my texts. As far as I know, the event was not recorded. However, we will be singing Psalm 29 again on sunday morning, and a recording may be live streamed on youtube. If so, I will link to it on this blog.

Gomółka - Nieście chwałę... Psalm 29

A performance of Psalm 29 from Kochanowski and Gomółka, Psałterz Dawidów, performed by Ars Nova, under the direction of Jacek Urbaniak, with Anna Mikołajczyk as soprano soloist.

Polaszek and the Psałterz Poznański

For several years now I have been a fan of the work of Andrzej and Agata Polaszek in rendering the biblical Psalms in singable texts in their native Polish language. Last week I was finally privileged to meet Andrzej, who is visiting North America this month and decided to pay me a visit here in Hamilton. We met at a local Tim Hortons and spent some time in conversation, which ranged from topics related to the liturgical use of the Psalms to the complexities of Polish history. Polaszek is a minister in a congregation in Poznań affiliated with the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a small denomination of recent vintage centred primarily in the United States. Last year Polaszek completed a PhD at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw on Maciej Rybiński's Polish version of the Genevan Psalter.

Psalm 29: Nieście chwałę mocarze

If you use the title of Psalm 29 in Polish as a keyword when searching YouTube, you will find several performances of Kochanowski and Gomółka's version of this psalm.The following video is highly unusual. It's a rock version from an album called Pospolite Ruszenie. Admittedly, it will not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is testimony to how deeply embedded this song is in the Polish musical repertoire.

There. That's done. Now here's one that many of us will likely prefer: Mikołaj Gomółka (XVI w.) - Nieście chwałę mocarze, performed in the Ukrainian city of Lviv at the 13th Early Music Festival:

Psałterz Dawidów: Psalm 91

Here is a lovely performance of Psalm 91 from the Psałterz Dawidów of Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka:

Two more psalter pages added

I have now posted a sample of my ongoing Genevan Psalter project, with a limited number of my own versified texts and some performances from my YouTube channel. This is a very incomplete version of my former website. In addition, I have posted an abbreviated version of my Niagara Psalter project, along with three YouTube performances. This largely completes my pages to accompany this blog, although I may later post my efforts to render in English the Psałterz Dawidów of Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka as well.

Psalm 47: David's Psalter in English

As far as I know, the 150 metrical Psalms of Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka have never before been rendered in English. The Psałterz Dawidow was first published in 1579 and is a beloved component of the Polish musical heritage. It is virtually unknown outside of Poland but deserves more exposure in the rest of the world. Here is my own attempt to disseminate knowledge of this psalter. The English versification is my own. English text © 2019 David T Koyzis.

Yesterday this was played at the online anniversary event celebrating a quarter of a century of Global Scholars Canada, of which I have been a member since 2019.

Mikołaj Gomółka and David's Psalter

Although Poland as a whole did not embrace the Reformation in the 16th century, the country nevertheless managed to produce a metrical psalter of high quality that is virtually unknown to outsiders. This is the Psałterz Dawidów, or David's Psalter, consisting of 150 metrical texts by the great Renaissance poet Jan Kochanowski set to tunes by Mikołaj Gomółka. So highly esteemed was this collection by Poles that it has reputedly been used liturgically by both Catholics and protestants. Midi files of the tunes can be found here: Melodie na Psałterz Polski, and pdf files of the scores can be found here.

Twenty-three of these Psalms were recorded in 1996 in a collection titled, Mikolaj Gomolka Melodie Na Psalterz Polski - Melodies For The Polish Psalter, and is available from the Polish Art Center. The recording received a Fryderyk award from the Polish music industry.

Might there be possibilities for setting English translations of these Psalms to their proper tunes from David's Psalter? It is certainly worth considering.

Here are some performances from this collection below:

Psalm 1:


Psalm 29:


Psalm 77:

"Kleszczmy rękoma" (Psalm 47) Mikołaj Gomółka

Here is a performance of Psalm 47 from the 16th-century Polish David's Psalter, by Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka. Sung by the "Tibi Domine" Choir at St. John's Church in Gdańsk in 2017.

After 5 June I will be posting an English version of this which I recorded a few days ago. As far as I know, this is the first time that anyone has come up with an English-language rendition of this beautiful metrical psalm. Stay tuned.

Melodies for the Polish Psalter

The following appears to be from an old long-play vinyl record of Kochanowski's and Gomółka's collection: Psalmy - Mikołaj Gomółka - Chór Stuligrosza. Performed by the Boys and Men's Choir of the Poznań Pharharmonia under the direction of Stefan Stuligrosz.