Wojciech Dlugoraj (1557?-1619?) was born either 1557 or 1558 in Poland, and was a lutenist and composer. He was in service at Samuel Zborowski's court who also had him educated as court lutenist. Dlugoraj detested Zborowski because of his brutality, and in fact the lutenist fled the court in 1579 and joined a monastic community. However, he was expelled from the monastery in 1581 due to his "unsuitable" lifestyle.



As he was indirectly responsible for the execution of Zborowski (through his revelation of politically compromising letters), he feared the revenge of Zborowski's family. Therefore he moved to Germany; the big compilation of the 'Leipzig Lutebook' of 1619 is attributed to him. His preserved works show a strong interest in folkdances (especially Polish and Italian); according to literary sources he must have been an exceptionally virtuosic player on the instrument and a brilliant improviser as well.



While his place and date of death are unknown - but he probably died in Germany shortly after 1619.