Musical Heritage of the Sforza Family

Early Music Ensemble “Cordaria” (Switzerland / Lithuania)

Katharina Haun - cornetto and recorder

Adam Bregman - sackbut

Vilimas Norkūnas - organ, basso continuo

 

The Sforza family emerged in the fifteenth century, starting with the famous condottiero (commander of a squad of military mercenaries) Jacopo Attendolo. The Sforzas shaped the cultural life of Milan, influencing the ruling dynasties of Europe, with whom they were connected by marital ties.

 

The cultural influence of Bona Sforza, the wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Sigismund the Old, is unquestionable, as many excellent seventeenth-century musical compositions created in Milan were still dedicated to her grandson Sigismund Vasa. Among them - one of the most significant sets of Italian diminutives - “Selva di varii passaggi” by Francesco Rognoni.

 

Since it is known that the ruler enjoyed the music of Italian composers, it is likely that the compositions of Rognoni’s eminent contemporaries from Milan - the composer Giovanni Paolo Cima and the dance master Cesare Negri - also found a place in the musical and dance repertoire of Polish and Lithuanian court bands.

 

This music program covering the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque reveals the rich cultural heritage of the Sforzas and their descendants.

 

Partner of the concert - Biržai region museum “Sėla”.