The «Gazzetta di Milano», a printed periodical of the Ancien Régime (XVII-XVIII centuries). Excerpts of music information for the period 1686-1699

Abstract

Although rarely consulted till now by musicological researchers, the periodicals published during the XVII and XVIII centuries in fact supply an abundance of information on the musical activities of that time in Italian towns and cities. The first number of the «Gazzetta di Milano» came out sometime between 1637 and 1638 and the periodical soon became the official journal of the State of Milan. The excerpts presented are the result of a systematic screeening of the numbers published during the period 1689-1699 (only recently discovered in the collection of the Biblioteca della Società napoletana di storia patria) and give a detailed account of the solemn religious and secular celebrations in the State of Milan at the time of the Spanish domination: carnival festivities (processions, masquerades, musical performances, serenades tournaments); religious services in churches, convents, monasteries and colleges; performances of oratorio, etc. The «Gazzetta» also supplies information, so far unpublished, on the Congregazione dei musici in S. Fedele.
The appendixes to the work cover: (I) a list of news items dealing with music events in the State of Milan, classified by geographical location; (II) news of events in the city of Milan, transcribed in full; (III) a list of operas quoted in the «Gazzetta»; (IV) a list of the libraries where the numbers of the «Gazzetta di Milano» traced so far (from 1641 to 1782) are kept, with the relative classifications.