Honoring God and the City: Music at the Venetian Confraternities, 1260-1806

by Jonathan Glixon

Overview

This is the first detailed history of musical activities at Venetian lay confraternities. Based on over two decades of research in Venetian archives, the book traces musical practices from the origins of the earliest confraternities in the mid-thirteenth century through their suppression under the French and Austrian governments of Venice in the early nineteenth century. The first section of the book treats the scuole grandi, the largest and most important of the Venetian confraternities, and the only ones to maintain musical establishments for long periods. The second portion of the book is concerned with the scuole piccole, the numerous less-important confraternities, sometimes as many as 300 of which were active simultaneously, located in churches throughout Venice. Appendices include an attempt to reconstruct a calendar of musical events at all Venetian confraternities in the early eighteenth century, demonstrating the vital role they played in the cultural and ceremonial life of this great city.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190285524
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Jonathan Glixon is a professor of musicology at the University of Kentucky.

Table of Contents

Part I: The Scole Grandi
1. For the Honor of God: The Origin and Nature of the Scoli Grandi
2. Gathering Together: Ritual and Ceremony at the Scoli Grandi
3. Singing for the Souls of Brothers: Musical Beginnings to the early 15th century
4. Singing Praies to the Lord: The Early Use of Professional Musicians, 1445-1500
5. The Best in the City: Salaried Musicians
6. So Super-excellent: Music for the Annual Festa
7. Only a few appear and often none: The Scole in decline, 1650-1807
Part II: The Scole Piccole
8. Processions, vespers, songs, and organ: The Scole Piccole and Music to 1600
9. An honorable and necessary work: The Scole Piccole in the 17th century
10. With jubilant voices: The Final Century of Music at the Scole Piccole, 1700-1807
Conclusions Appendix I: Processions and Ceremonies of the Scole Grandi Appendix II: A Calendar of Religious Occasions Celebrated by the Scole Appendix III: Musicians for the Festa di San Rocco, 1595-1634
Appendix IV: The Venetian Monetary System

Editorial Reviews

"Glixon has completed an heroic task in admirable fashion, not only by locating and transcribing a vast body of documents, but also by weaving a rich and fascinating tapestry of a fundamental aspect of Venetian musical life. This book is a major achievement and indispensable to anyone interested in Venetian music in the 550-year period it covers, as well as to anyone wishing to understand the role of confraternities in the musical culture of the Italian peninsula. It is and will remain a classic."—Journal of Musicological Research

"Glixon's careful work contributes significantly to our understanding of the roles of musical performance in the urban life of early modern Europe, and it should prove a valuable basis for further research."—Europe: Early Modern and Modern

"This is the most comprehensive study of confraternal music yet produced...an indispensible reference work that is full of detailed information."—The Catholic Historical Review

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