|
Lithuanian Music
Music of Lithuania refers to all forms of music associated with Lithuania, which has a long history of the folk, popular and classical musical development. Music was an important part of polytheistic, pre-Christian Lithuania – rituals were accompanied by music instruments and singing, deeds of the heroes and those who didn't return from the war were celebrated in songs. History Music was very important part of ancient Lithuanian polytheistic belief. It is known that, at the start of the 2nd millennium, Baltic tribes had special funeral traditions in which the deeds of the dead were narrated using recitation, and ritual songs about war campaigns, heroes and rulers also existed. First professional music was introduced to Lithuania with travelling monks in the 11th century. After the christianization of Lithuania in 1387, religious music started to spread, Gregorian chant was introduced. Travelling musicians arranged concerts in the manors and castles of the Lithuanian nobl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Lituani
''I Lituani'' (''The Lithuanians'') is an opera consisting of a prologue and three acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on the historical poem '' Konrad Wallenrod'' written by Lithuanian-Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. It premiered at La Scala in Milan on 7 March 1874. History Casa Ricordi commissioned Ponchielli to write the opera, and the idea to use ''Konrad Wallenrod'' came from Salvatore Farina, a novelist and playwright working for Ricordi. The opera was extremely well received when it opened, and a second, final version with additional material was performed again a year later also to good reviews. It continued to be performed in the last decades of the 19th century in Cremona, Trieste, Brescia, Rome, Turin, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Chicago, and a single noteworthy Russian performance in 1884 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg with the title ''Aldona''. After a three-night run in 1903 at La Scala, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dramma Per Musica
Dramma per musica (Italian, literally: ''drama for music'', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is a libretto. The term was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries. In modern times the same meaning of ''drama for music'' was conveyed through the Italian Greek-rooted word ''melodramma'' (from μέλος = song or music + δρᾶμα = scenic action). ''Dramma per musica'' never meant "drama ''through'' music", let alone music drama. A ''dramma per musica'' was thus originally (in Italy in the 17th century) a verse drama specifically written for the purpose of being set to music, in other words a libretto for an opera, usually a serious opera (a libretto meant for opera buffa, i.e. comic opera, would have been called a ''dramma giocoso''). By extension, the term came to be used also for the opera or operas which were composed to the libretto, and a variation, ''dramma in musica'', which emphasised the musical element, was sometimes preferre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catechism Of Martynas Mažvydas
The ''Simple Words of Catechism'' ( lt, Katekizmo paprasti žodžiai) by Martynas Mažvydas is the first printed book in the Lithuanian language. It was printed on 8 January 1547 by Hans Weinreich in Königsberg. The 79-page book followed the teachings of Martin Luther but reflects both religious and secular needs. The book included the first Lithuanian-language poem, primer with alphabet, basic catechism, and 11 religious hymns with sheet music. The book was written in the Samogitian dialect and printed in Gothic (schwabacher) font; Latin dedication and preface are printed in Latin font ( antiqua). History There is no direct evidence, but initiators of the book were most likely Abraomas Kulvietis and Stanislovas Rapalionis, professors of the Königsberg University, who witnessed the publications of the first Lutheran books in Polish and Prussian languages. The cost of the publication was defrayed from the treasury of the grand Duke. The Catechism had a circulation of 200–300, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł
Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł (4 February 1515 – 28 May 1565), nicknamed ''The Black'' (Polish: ''Czarny''), was a Polish-Lithuanian noble who held several administrative positions within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Voivode of Vilnius, Grand Lithuanian Chancellor, and Grand Hetman of Lithuania. Alternate renditions of his name include lt, Mikalojus Radvila Juodasis, be, Мікалай Радзівіл Чорны, and la, Nicolaus Radvil. His first name is sometimes given in English as Nicholas. Political influence Mikołaj was able to gain much political influence thanks to the romance between his cousin Barbara Radziwiłł and the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Zygmunt II August.Peter Paul BajeShort history of the Radziwill Family This made him one of the most powerful royal advisers. Mikolaj became Marshal of Lithuania, Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, as well as Palatine of Vilnius, gained immense wealth and became the most powerful magnate in the Comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radziwiłł Family
The House of Radziwiłł (; lt, Radvila; be, Радзівіл, Radzivił; german: link=no, Radziwill) is a powerful magnate family originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later also prominent in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The family was founded by Radvila Astikas, but over time it split into many branches, such as the Biržai-Dubingiai and Goniądz-Meteliai lines. However, most of the branches became extinct by the 18th century, with only the Nesvizh-Kleck-Ołyka line surviving to this day. Their descendants were highly prominent for centuries, first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Prussia. The family produced many individuals notable in Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian, German as well as general European history and culture. The Radziwiłł family received the title of ''Reichsfürst'' (prince) from the Holy Roman Emperor in the mid 16th-century. The Nesvizh Castle complex, maintained by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the "father" of observational astronomy, modern physics, the scientific method, and modern science. Galileo studied speed and velocity, gravity and free fall, the principle of relativity, inertia, projectile motion and also worked in applied science and technology, describing the properties of pendulums and "hydrostatic balances". He invented the thermoscope and various military compasses, and used the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. His contributions to observational astronomy include telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, observation of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, observation of Saturn's rings, and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelagnolo Galilei
Michelagnolo Galilei (sometimes spelled Michelangelo; 18 December 1575 – 3 January 1631) was an Italian composer and lutenist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, active mainly in Bavaria and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was the son of music theorist and lutenist Vincenzo Galilei, and the younger brother of the scientist Galileo Galilei. Life Galilei was born in Florence. He learned to play the lute at an early age, like his father. Most likely he was destined for a career in Florence, but when his father died in 1591, the sixteen-year-old lutenist was put in the charge of his older brother Galileo Galilei, who was in Padua. Some other employment had to be found for Michelagnolo, so in 1593 he went to Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where foreign musicians were much in demand. Most likely he went there with the powerful Lithuanian Radziwiłł family. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had several sophisticated musical establishments at the end of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diomedes Cato
Diomedes Cato (1560 to 1565 – d.1627 in Gdansk) was an Italian-born composer and lute player, who lived and worked entirely in Poland and Lithuania. He is known mainly for his instrumental music. He mixed the style of the late Renaissance with the emerging Baroque, and also Italian idioms with Polish folk material; and in addition he was one of the first native-born Italian composers to visit Sweden. Life He was born near Treviso between 1560 and 1565, possibly at Serravale where his father is documented as being a teacher. Around 1565 his family, who were Protestants, fled Italy to escape the Inquisition, and settled in Poland. Cato, who had left Italy before the age of five, received all of his musical education in Kraków, where the family settled. The first record of his employment dates from 1588, when he was hired as a lutenist by the court of King Sigismund III Vasa, a position he kept until 1593. In 1591 he wrote music for the wedding of Jan Kostka at Świecie cast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bálint Bakfark
Bálint Bakfark (; in contemporary sources Valentin Bakfark or (from 1565 onward) Valentin Greff alias Bakfark, his name is variously spelled as ''Bacfarc'', ''Bakfarc'', ''Bakfarkh'', ''Bakffark'', ''Backuart'') (1526–30 – 15 or 22 August 1576) was a Hungarian composer of Transylvanian Saxon origin, and lutenist of the Renaissance. He was enormously influential as a lutenist in his time, and renowned as a virtuoso on the instrument. Life He was born in Brassó, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (today Brașov in Romania), into a family of Transylvanian Saxon origin. An orphan, he was brought up by the Greff family and was educated in Buda at the court of John Zápolya. Bakfark remained there until 1540, though he possibly traveled to Italy once during this time. Sometime in the 1540s he traveled to Paris, but, finding the position of lutenist to the king filled, he left for Jagiellon Poland in 1549, where he was employed as a court lutenist by Sigismund II Augustus. From t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urban area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 718,507 (as of 2020), while according to the Vilnius territorial health insurance fund, there were 753,875 permanent inhabitants as of November 2022 in Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities combined. Vilnius is situated in southeastern Lithuania and is the second-largest city in the Baltic states, but according to the Bank of Latvia is expected to become the largest before 2025. It is the seat of Lithuania's national government and the Vilnius District Municipality. Vilnius is known for the architecture in its Old Town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The city was noted for its multicultural population already in the time of the Polish–Lithuanian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the last male monarch from the Jagiellonian dynasty. Sigismund was the only son of Italian-born Bona Sforza and Sigismund the Old. From the beginning he was groomed and extensively educated as a successor. In 1529 he was crowned '' vivente rege'' while his father was still alive. Sigismund Augustus continued a tolerance policy towards minorities and maintained peaceful relations with neighbouring countries, with the exception of the Northern Seven Years' War which aimed to secure Baltic trade. Under his patronage, culture flourished in Poland; he was a collector of tapestries from the Low Countries and collected military memorabilia as well as swords, armours and jewellery. Sigismund Augustus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovanni Battista Gisleni
Giovanni Battista Gisleni (1600 – 3 May 1672) was an Italian Baroque architect, stage designer, theater director, singer, and musician at the Polish-Lithuanian royal court. Gisleni was born and died in Rome. He served three Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty: Sigismund III, Władysław IV and John II Casimir, during the years 1630–1668. Gisleni's tomb in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome takes the form of a memento mori, showing an intricately carved skeleton figure of Death. Main works * Biaroza monastery of the Carthusians in present-day Belarus (1648) * Church of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Lviv (1642) * Church of the Discalced Carmelites in Warsaw (1652) * project of an altar for the Miraculous Icon of Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Jasna Góra in Częstochowa (circa 1630) * Baroque Altar funded by bishop Piotr Gembicki in the Wawel Cathedral (circa 1650) Publications * ''Varii disegni d'architettura inventati e delineati da Gio:Battista Gisleni Rom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_and_the_Columns_of_Gediminas%2C_minted_in_1568.jpg "Click for more on -> Sigismund II Augustus")
