Bornus Consort (Poland)

The early music ensemble Bornus Consort was established in 1981 by Marcin Bornus-Szczycinski on the commission of dr. Ewa Obniska, director of Classical and Early Music Department of Polish Radio Channel 2. The long-term project's aim was to reconstruct and record the music preserved in the Manuscripts of the Rorantists of the Wawel Cathedral. The archives included a repertoire of the Europe-famous Rorantists' capella, founded by King Sigismund I in 1541.

Bornus Consort were the first one in Poland to undertake an attempt to reconstruct the sound qualities of the small male ensemble according to generally accepted rule of keeping as close as possible to the original way of performing the early works. For many years the group's main specialisation was Polish 16-17th-century music supplemented with Dutch polyphony, French chansons, Italian and English madrigals as well as contemporary pieces.

Recordings of the ensemble were thrice nominated for the prestigious award Fryderyk. Their record (together with the Camerata Vistula orchestra) of "Miserere" by Pawel Szymanski, dedicated to the ensemble, was recognised by Fryderyk ?97.

Bornus Consort's interest has gradually turning towards much earlier music. The group's first important undertaking concerning medieval music was performing the 13th-century liturgical drama "Ludus Danielis" (Warsaw Grand Theatre, 1984). This spectacle, being the beginning of medieval music research, was performed all over Europe. Nowadays the ensemble focuses mainly on monody, particularly the liturgical one. Reconstruction of medieval and renaissance vocal techniques, studies on modality, close collaboration with traditional folk singers, interest in different liturgical traditions and ways of performing them gave the ensemble's singers new perspectives of performing music in general. Equipped with this experience, they sometimes return to later music, however, bringing with them a completely new approach to the pieces.

Bornus Consort: Robert Lawaty, Robert Pozarski, Marcin Bornus-Szczycinski, Michal Siciarek, Miroslaw Borczynski, Stanislaw Szczycinski