| The English traveller Thomas Coryat, visiting Venice in 1608, described a musical performance at the Scuola Grande di S Rocco with a group of 20 singers and 24 instrumentalists, whose music made him feel ‘rapt up with Saint Paul into the third heaven’.  That Venice achieved its importance as a musical centre much later than other cities in northern Italy was probably due to several of the factors that contributed to its remarkable political stability: its electoral system for public offices ensured that no individual family achieved overwhelming prominence; appointments to important military and civil offices were often spread among several of the noble families; Venetian customs and sumptuary laws discouraged excessive displays of wealth and power by an individual or family, thus limiting private patronage of music. A vital factor in the growth of Venetian musical life was the number of music publishing houses in the city. The first print of polyphonic music was published in Venice, by Ottaviano Petrucci, in 1501, but a more modern and commercially successful music publishing industry was established in the 1530s by the house of Scotto and by the Frenchman Antonio Gardane. By about 1545 Venetian music publishers were by far the most important in Italy, and their activities made a large body of music readily available to local musicians. Scotto and Gardane printed music by nearly every significant composer, and many musicians visited Venice specifically to oversee publication of their works, thus enhancing the international character of the republic's musical life. The music publishing trade also provided an outlet and an incentive for local composers, who were sometimes directly involved in the business as publishers and editors. Instrument making also flourished in Venice.
Composer: Claudio Monteverdi, Biagio Marini, Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Gabrieli, Alessandro Grandi,
Spiridion, Giovanni Legrenzi, Andrea Cima, Pier Francesco Cavalli |
Dear Otto:
ReplyDeleteDo you have the cd "Music of the time of Elizabeth I", conducted by Hogwood??? Can share it??? Regards! Gus.