Music from Palestrina’s time

DUODECO (Lithuania)
Povilas Vanžodis, artistic director of the ensemble 
Rodrigo Calveyra, artistic director (Brazil/France)

In 2025 the music world will celebrate the 500th year of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s birthday. It is known that he is one of the most influential composers of all times, being the favorite composer of the Vatican. But it is not so known that Palestrina had a decisive influence for the musical scene in Lithuania, since three of his direct pupils were kapellmeisters at the Vasa court. We could even say that through his pupils Annibale Stabile, Asprilio Pacelli and Giovanni Francesco Anerio, Palestrina’s music survived and evolved in Lithuania.

For all these reasons, in 2025 the ensemble Canto Fiorito and the Kretinga Early Music Festival will make a big celebration, with concerts of Palestrina’s music in all corners of Lithuania. To introduce this music to Kretinga’s audiences, this year Rodrigo Calveyra has created a special program of music from all over Europe, created before Palestrina and during his time, featuring pieces by Josquin Desprez, Jacques Arcadelt, Thomas Tallis, Cristóbal de Morales, Orlando di Lasso, William Byrd, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Hieronymus Praetorius and Palestrina himself. This program will be performed by the Lithuanian vocal ensemble Duodeco (artistic director of the ensemble Povilas Vanžodis), conducted by R. Calveyra.

Jacques Arcadelt Il dolce e bianco cigno
(c.1507-1568)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Magnificat primi toni 
(1525-1594)

Josquin des Prez Mille regretz 
(c.1450-1521)

Orlando di Lasso Ad te levavi oculos meos
(1532-1594)

William Byrd Ave verum corpus 
(1543-1623)

Hieronymus Praetorius Quam pulchra es 
(1560-1629)

Cristóbal de Morales Asperges me
(1500-1553)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Pulchra es amica mea 
(1525-1594) 

Tomás Luis de Victoria Salve Regina 
(1548-1611)

Thomas Tallis If ye love me 
(c.1505-1585)

Vocal ensemble “Duodeco”

Augustė Andrijauskaitė, Justina Leinartaitė, sopranos

Ūla Zemeckytė, Evita Rudžionytė,altos

Evaldas Alekna, tenor

Povilas Vanžodis, tenor and artistic director of the ensemble

Gabrielius Gaidamavičius, Arūnas Maliukas, basses

Rodrigo Calveyra, artistic director (Brazil/France)

Vocal ensemble “Duodeco” is a collective of eight music professionals based in Vilnius, which gathered in 2019. It is a flexible, modern collective in terms of repertoire, which performs both early music and contemporary musical compositions and aims to promote the genre of ensemble singing in Lithuania. The members of the ensemble strive for an impeccable and harmonious sound, which would become a standard for other collectives and fascinate the listener. The collective’s ambition is to create relevant, socially attractive projects that significantly complement the cultural space of Lithuania as well as evocative performances, pulsating with the idea of a unified ensemble, in which all members of the collective believe unconditionally.

Povilas Vanžodis, the artistic director of the “Duodeco” ensemble, is a choir conductor and singer who conducts also the Šiauliai State Choir “Polifonija”. The composition of the ensemble: sopranos – Augustė Andrijauskaitė and Justina Leinartaitė, altos – Ūla Zemeckytė and Evita Ružionytė, tenors – Povilas Vanžodis and Evaldas Alekna, basses – Gabrielius Gaidamavičius and Arūnas Maliukas.