Szamotul, Waclaw Z

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Szamotul, Waclaw Z

Szamotul, Waclaw Z, significant Polish composer; b. Szamotuly, near Poznan, c. 1524; d. probably in Piñczów, near Kielce, c. 1560. He studied at Poznan’s Collegium Lubranscianum and at the Univ. of Krakow. Aafter serving as secretary to Hieronim Chodkiewicz, governor of Troki in Lithuania (1545-47), he became a composer at the court of King Sigismund II August; about 1550 he espoused the Protestant cause, and from 1555 until his death he was active at the Lithuanian court of Duke Mikolaj Radziwill. He composed several outstanding a cappella sacred works.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire