CAPPELLA MARCIANA
29 October 2024/ Italy / Piacenza
Cappella Marciana focuses on the musical life at the Basilica of San Marco in Venice during the 16th and 17th centuries. From Adrian Willaert to Claudio Monteverdi, many prominent musicians succeeded each other as organist and choirmaster. For some, this post was a lifelong story: Adrian Willaert held it for 35 years. For others, it was just a brief appointment. Nevertheless, all contributed to bringing and sustaining music within the Basilica of San Marco. All the pieces in this program were performed there: indeed, secular madrigals were regularly played during religious services. Often of an amorous nature, these pieces were repressed by ecclesiastical authorities who "obliged the Sonadori to play motets and lauds in honor of our Lord" rather than madrigals "more lascivious than devotional" (Baroncini Rodolfo, Contributo alla storia del violino, 1994).
During the Renaissance, the violin consort was an omnipresent instrumental group, highly appreciated and widespread in Venice and throughout Italy. From the 1550s onwards, Italian violins gradually found their place in the liturgical context. The appearance of the violin consort in the church undoubtedly contributed to the prestigious social development it enjoyed throughout the 16th century. Previously reserved for piffari, music played in a religious sphere gradually extended to violinists, whose salaries increased until they surpassed those of their singer counterparts, particularly at the Basilica of San Marco. Whether in procession or as a permanent fixture, the sound colors of the violin consort participated in liturgical celebrations, accompanied daily devotion, and emphasized the contemplative atmosphere it created.
During the Renaissance, the violin consort was an omnipresent instrumental group, highly appreciated and widespread in Venice and throughout Italy. From the 1550s onwards, Italian violins gradually found their place in the liturgical context. The appearance of the violin consort in the church undoubtedly contributed to the prestigious social development it enjoyed throughout the 16th century. Previously reserved for piffari, music played in a religious sphere gradually extended to violinists, whose salaries increased until they surpassed those of their singer counterparts, particularly at the Basilica of San Marco. Whether in procession or as a permanent fixture, the sound colors of the violin consort participated in liturgical celebrations, accompanied daily devotion, and emphasized the contemplative atmosphere it created.
