well, yesterday was FAI day with museums and other things (usually closed) open for the occasion; I went to Venice to visit the church of the Ospedaletto and that of the Mendicanti and the music room of the orphanage. The emotion was extremely high, breathtaking, to see the grates inside the churches and the hall behind which the hidden girls from the orphanage performed in choir accompanied by violinists. They were used to attract nobles who would then leave riches to earn their way into heaven; they could not show themselves in public and if they ever married, they had to swear never to sing or play in public again......
I had read Tiziano Scarpa's book "Stabat mater" (absolutely a must-read) and yesterday I had the impression of reliving its pages. They were very talented, and among them was also Cecilia Guardi, sister of the Venetian painter and later wife of Tiepolo, whom he met during one of her performances at the age of 16; he was 19 and fell in love while listening to her music
they could not appear in public and if they ever married they had to swear never to sing or play in public again......
Why such a deprivation... Who knows what the historical roots are...
S
suonileganti
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Reply 4 by suonileganti
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deprivation regarding playing behind bars or not being able to play after marriage?
the orphanage was managed by nuns and priests and clearly they did not expose the girls to the outside world.... as for after marriage, it should be said that in the city of Venice there were several such institutions; the one I visited housed 120 young girls, but there was another that contained as many as 500 and then even more. The institutions competed to attract the city's nobles and their generosity, so the choir and the violinists had to be very well-prepared and brilliant in their performances, and once they left the place, they were not supposed to create any further external competition. Clearly, this is an abundantly distorted view of art, but we must acknowledge that at the time this system allowed music to develop; sometimes pieces were commissioned specifically for the female musicians of the orphanage, Vivaldi, for example, wrote many compositions for this purpose, as did so many other composers.
we then consider that probably all these women would have died of hunger and hardship.... perhaps we can justify the "deviation" of the religious figures
Let us not forget that at the time young boys were castrated to maintain a high and clear voice; this is more debatable
in this regard, the beautiful novel "The Exact Melody of the Air" by Richard Harvell is absolutely worth reading
