Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564-1621) was a Czech Renaissance nobleman, humanist, composer and traveller. Educated at the Innsbruck court of Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, he mastered seven languages and studied music and the arts. In 1598 he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Egypt, which he described in a major travel book published in 1608. As a composer he represented the Franco-Flemish polyphonic tradition in Bohemia; only a mass and two motets survive, the rest lost when his property was confiscated after his execution on Prague's Old Town Square in 1621.
The Supraphon publishing house released the album Pilgrimage / Musical Journey of Kryštof Harant to Jerusalem / circa 1600 - the first complete recording of Harant's surviving compositions performed by Cappella Mariana and the Constantinople ensemble.
The British newspaper The Guardian included the album Pilgrimage among the notable recordings of early music in 2024.
The Czech music magazine Rondo praised the album Pilgrimage as a carefully crafted perspective on the intercultural exchange of the Renaissance era.
