Cappella Marciana
Encyclopedia
The Cappella Marciana is the modern name for the choir
and instrumentalists of St Mark's Basilica
, Venice
, Italy
.
ducale in the 16th and 17th centuries included many of the most notable composers of the Italian baroque
. In addition to providing music at the Basilica, the choir and instrumentalists of the cappella performed important functions in the Venetian calendar of feasts.
Many of the works of the maestri di cappella are preserved in illuminated choir books at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASV), the Biblioteca del Civico Museo Correr and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and instrumentalists of St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Overview
The masters of the cappellaCappella
Cappella was an Italian Eurodance act formed in 1987 by producer Gianfranco Bortolotti. The act went through a number of line-up changes over the years but was most successful in the early 1990s when it was fronted by British performers Kelly Overett and Rodney Bishop...
ducale in the 16th and 17th centuries included many of the most notable composers of the Italian baroque
Italian Baroque
Italian Baroque is a term referring to a stylistic period in Italian history and art which spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century.-History:...
. In addition to providing music at the Basilica, the choir and instrumentalists of the cappella performed important functions in the Venetian calendar of feasts.
Many of the works of the maestri di cappella are preserved in illuminated choir books at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASV), the Biblioteca del Civico Museo Correr and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.
Maestri di cappella
The list of maestri, musical directors, and organists includes:- WillærtAdrian WillaertAdrian Willaert was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers who moved to Italy and transplanted the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style there....
, maestro 1527-1563, - RoreCipriano de RoreCipriano de Rore was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy...
, maestro 1563-65, - Claudio MeruloClaudio MeruloClaudio Merulo was an Italian composer, publisher and organist of the late Renaissance period, most famous for his innovative keyboard music and his ensemble music composed in the Venetian polychoral style. He was born in Correggio and died in Parma...
, first organist from 1557 to 1584 - Gioseffo ZarlinoGioseffo ZarlinoGioseffo Zarlino was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He was possibly the most famous music theorist between Aristoxenus and Rameau, and made a large contribution to the theory of counterpoint as well as to musical tuning.-Life:Zarlino was born in Chioggia, near Venice...
, maestro 1565-1590, - Baldassaro Donati, a member of the New Academy of Venice, choirmaster of the "small choir" of St. Mark's from 1562 until 1565, when it was disbanded, then a chorister. Maestro 1590-1603,
- Giovanni CroceGiovanni CroceGiovanni Croce was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance, of the Venetian School...
, vice maestro in the 1590s. Succeeded Donati as maestro in 1603-1609 - Andrea GabrieliAndrea GabrieliAndrea Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Venetian School of composers, and was extremely influential in spreading the Venetian style in Italy as...
, singer in 1536, then organist. - Giovanni GabrieliGiovanni GabrieliGiovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.-Biography:Gabrieli was born in Venice...
, second organist 1584-, first organist 1586- until his death in 1612. - Claudio MonteverdiClaudio MonteverdiClaudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
, maestro 1613-1643. - Alessandro GrandiAlessandro GrandiAlessandro Grandi was a northern Italian composer of the early Baroque era, writing in the new concertato style...
, second maestro 1620- - Massimiliano Neri, first organist at San Marco while Cavalli was second
- Francesco CavalliFrancesco CavalliFrancesco Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron Federico Cavalli, a Venetian nobleman.-Life:Cavalli was born at Crema, Lombardy...
, second organist 1639- - Giovanni RovettaGiovanni RovettaGiovanni Rovetta was an Italian baroque composer and maestro di capella of the Capella Marciana at St Mark's Basilica, Venice between Monteverdi and Cavalli.-References:...
, second maestro succeeding Gabrieli's pupil Grandi. Primo maestro di cappella after Monteverdi's death in 1643, till own death in 1668. - Giovanni LegrenziGiovanni LegrenziGiovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era...
, 1681 vice-maestro and in 1685 primo maestro - LottiAntonio LottiAntonio Lotti was an Italian composer of classical music.Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was Kapellmeister at Hanover at the time. In 1682, Lotti began studying with Lodovico Fuga and Giovanni Legrenzi, both of whom were employed at St Mark's Basilica, Venice's principal church...
, primo maestro 1719- - Baldassare Galuppi, vice-maestro in 1748 and maestro from 1762 and then at the Ospedale degli Incurabili,
- Giovanni TebaldiniGiovanni TebaldiniGiovanni Tebaldini was an Italian composer, organist and musicologist- Life :He studied with Amilcare Ponchielli at the Conservatory of Milan and later withFranz Xaver Haberlin Regensburg...
, secondo maestro di cappella 1889-1893 - Lorenzo Perosi,
- Matteo Tosi, maestro 1926-1938