By Jurate Trilupaitiene

For ages, the Court of the Lithuania's Grand Dukes played the role of the Duchy's political centre. At the same time it was very important nidus of the artistic culture. The Rulers' Court used to host country's nobles which contributed to the formation and development of their artistic taste. It was the place where Lithuanian nobles had numerous opportunities to get acquainted with the novelties and repertoire of the West European musical life.
The Court's choir - kapela - used to be formed from local as well as foreign musicians. The most prominent members of the kapela were teaching young talented artists of their professional secrets in order to later incorporate them in the same kapela.
Starting from 16th century and onwards the cultural ties between Lithuania and Italy were strengthening. Many Italian artists came to perform in Lithuania. They introduced Renaissance and Baroque trends and novelties of Europe's musical culture. Lithuanian nobles were fascinated by Italian art not only because it was rapidly spreading all over the Old Continent. At that time the theory of the Roman origin of the Lithuanian nation was extremely popular among the nobles and perhaps this induced many of them to pay a visit to the imaginary ancestors land, as well as appetized their interest in art and music of this remote country.
Many Lithuanian nobles had got a chance to get to know the Italian music when the Ruler of Poland and Lithuania Sigismundus the Old (Žygimantas Senasis) married Italian princess Bona Sforca. Alesandro Pesenti (Pesenti, de Pesenti, Pesentius) (?-1576) 1, a prominent Italian organist from Verona and a representative of a famous dynasty of musicians, was escorting princess Bona Sforca to her marriage celebrations in 1518. The Royal Court awarded him a title of "musicus et organista Sacrae Reginalis Maiestatis". Perhaps not without the consent and invitation by Lithuanian nobles A.Pesenti came to work in Vilnius. He became the very first prominent Italian musician working in Lithuania on permanent basis. He served as canon and organist in the Cathedral, the royal prayer house.
As a famous musician and a prominent priest A. Pesenti was paid an honor by coining a medal (designer Gian Jacopo (Giangiacomo) Caraglio) to testify his outstanding musical merit. The averse side of the medal featured A.Pesenti in bas-relief and an inscription "Alexander Pesentius Veronensis, canonocus Vilnensis etc." The reverse side of the medal featured keyboard and wind instruments and an inscription "Virtute duce, comite fortuna"2.
Sacral music was an important part of all the ceremonies at the Royal Court. It was surrounding the solemn moments of the Grand Duchy's rulers. No doubt, A.Pesenti followed the musical traditions of his own country and performed the same repertoire as in Italy.
Princess Bona Sforca supported Lithuanian nobles by various means including recommendation letters for those traveling to Italy. It is known that one of her Court's musicians, the Italian Alvise de Pizino (Picino) from Venice, accompanied a Lithuanian noble (there are no records about his name) during his trip to Venice and Rome in 1529 3.
Being on a visit to Italy Lithuanian nobles were getting familiar with Italian musical life as well as socialising with music celebrities. There are records of famous Italian musicians dedicating their masterpieces to the Lithuanian nobles. Fragments of these unique editions and even some voice parts are in the depository of Boulogne, Padua, Rome, Florence, Verona, Munich, Berlin, Gdansk, and London libraries 4.
Cultural life in Vilnius Lower Castle (Žemutinė pilis) livened up in the middle of the 16th century when Sigismundus Augustus (Žygimantas Augustas) brought many new musicians to his Court. Valentine Bakfark, the Hungarian lute player of European fame coming from Rome, was among them. One group of musicians was even called "Musici Itali". This name referred not so much to the origin of its members but to the Italian repertoire and musical virtuosity.
There is an interesting record about the performance in Vilnius Lower Castle that took place in 1551. The record narrates that the kapela coming from the Court of Duke Mikalojus Radvila the Black (Juodasis) incorporated Italian violinists 5. It was the very first mentioning of this instrument in Lithuania, Poland and even the whole region.
Although Vilnius Lower Castle was not a permanent residence for Lithuanian rulers in the 17th century, the arrival of the Royal Court to the capital used to be a very important event in the country's musical life. The kapela of the great music admirer Vladislavas Vaza, the Ruler of Poland and Lithuania, used to perform in Vilnius as well as in other Lithuanian towns and cities, participating in various celebrations and festivities. The kapela was formed from professional Italian musicians. In Vilnius they produced the three dramma per musica plays. This most distinct genre of the Baroque epoch - opera - invented in Italy in the beginning of the 17th century reached Lithuania incredibly early. Before Vilnius, dramma per musica outside Italy was performed only in Prague (1627), Warsaw (1628), and Vienna (1633). Vilnius saw " Il ratto d'Elena" in 1636, "Andromeda" in 1644, and "Circe delusa" in 1648. The kapela was lead by famous Italian composer and music theory specialist Marco Scacchi, librettos were written by royal secretary, another Italian - Virgillio Puccitelli.
After break-up of Vaza's royal kapela many musicians returned back to their homeland, others continued their carrier in the courts of Lithuanian nobles and confessional institutions under their patronage. Their professional masterly and repertoire dissemination played very significant role for further development of the country's musical culture.

Jūratė Trilupaitienė

1. Polski słownik biograficzny, tom XXV/4, zeszyt 107, Warszawa, 1980, p. 652.
2. J. Kurczewski, Kościól zamkowy czyli katedra Wileńska, t. 2, cz. 2, 1910, p.6
3. D. Quirini-Popławska, Działalność Włochów w Polsce w I polowie XVI wieku na dworze Królewskim, w dyplomacji i hierarhii kośirlnej, Wrocław I ii, 1973, p.12.
4. M. Perz, Ze studiów w bibliotekach archiwach Wloskich, Muzyka, 1970, nr. 2; E. Vogel, Bibliothek der Gedruckten Weltlickten Vocalmusik Italiens. Aus den Jahren 1500-1700. Band II. Hildescheim-New-York, 1972.
5. Lenkijos centrinis senųjų aktų archyvas (AGAD) RK 162a (1549-1551), k. 51v.

Architect Rimas Valeckas