Congregazioni e corporazioni di musici a Napoli tra Sei e Settecento

Abstract

The article analyses the activities of the musical congrations and corporations in Naples, in the period between the end of the Seventeenth and the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, such as the Congregation of Beatissima Vergine Maria, working in the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, the corporations of trumpeters and 'sonatori di corde, di balli', in the Chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Congregation of Santa Cecilia, and so on. They all worked contemporaneously both in the theatres and in the Conservatories of Naples, the principal european capital of music. The article underscores their organization, self-management, the way they assigned work and gained opportunity to perform, and also the relationship among all the musical institutions of the city.
To assure their survival, the rules of the congregations imposed a strict hierarchy. The relarionship between art, religion and political authorities has also been indicated: the influence of the ecclesiastic authority, at the beginning very important, weakened with the loss of all privileges and led the way to the secularization of art. The work presented here is the result of research on unpublished archival documents (notary deeds, contracts, etc.), which make clear that Naples was an important capital of music, not only of opera but of many other musical genres which, although widespread, have not yet been given sufficient attention.