The special sound of a double virginal will address the audience at Bauskas Palace on Sunday – BauskasDzive.lv

On Sunday, April 28, those interested are invited to the Bauska Palace, where they will be able to listen to the 17th century
the sound of the musical instrument, the double virginal, was informed by the portal of the Bauska Palace Museum
senior communication specialist Elina Yegorova.

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The music that was played and listened to in the 17th century in the largest European metropolises – London and Amsterdam – will be performed by the head and lecturer of the Ancient Music Department of Jāzeps Vītolas Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA), harpsichordist Ieva Saliete and students of the JVLMA harpsichord class. The concert will feature music created specifically for the virginal by English composers William Byrd, John Bull, Peter Phillips, John Mandeis, as well as Flemish composer Jan Pietersen Svelink.

Bauska Palace Museum informed that the musical instrument was made according to the original prototype of 1623, the original author of which is Johannes Rucker from the Rucker family. The original of this instrument is kept in the Landesmuseum Wurttemberg in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Double Virgin did not end up in the Bauska Palace by chance. The main mission of the palace museum specialists is to show visitors the historical evidence of the Bauska Palace and the Kurzeme and Zemgale dukes in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the virginal is a typical musical instrument of that time. The first Duke of Courland and Zemgale, Gotthard Kettler, was of German origin, and he was related to other European courts and, influenced by what he saw elsewhere, brought a lot to the duchy. The virginal is a typical musical instrument of this time. It is referred to as a parlor instrument, which was the instrument on which ladies most often practiced playing music. Of the salon instruments, the virginal was the most popular because it was not too big and it was relatively easy to learn to play it.

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The word “virginal” is derived from the English word “virgin”, which means “virgin”, because this instrument was most often played by young girls and it used to be considered a “young girl’s musical instrument”. The virginal in Bauska Palace is special in that it is dual, which means it has two key pads that can be used both together and separately.

The double virgin was purchased as part of the Latvian-Lithuanian cooperation project “Historical road: Raudondvaris-Bauska”, with the aim of attracting tourists to the Bauska region in the winter season. For the first time, the double virginal sound could be enjoyed in Bauska Palace in November 2022.

E. Yegorova revealed that the concert will take place on Sunday as part of the annual JVLMA students’ creative residency at Bauska Palace, which will take place on April 27 and 28 this year. The concert starts on April 28 at 12.00 Free entrance.