Cappella Marciana

The Cappella Marciana is the modern name for the choir and instrumentalists of St Mark's Basilica, Venice, Italy.

Overview

The masters of the cappella 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.^[1]

Many of the works of the maestri di cappella are preserved in illuminated choir books^[2] at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASV), the Biblioteca del Civico Museo Correr and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.^[3]

History

Maestri di cappella

Adrian Willaert
Claudio Monteverdi
Baldassare Galuppi
Don Lorenzo Perosi
Front of the basilica

The list of maestri, musical directors, and organists includes:^[4]

Johannes de Quadris (1463-1491)
Pietro de Fossis (1491-1527)
Adrian Willaert (1527-1563)
Cipriano de Rore (1563-1565)
Gioseffo Zarlino (1565-1590)
Baldassare Donato (1590-1605)
Giovanni Croce (1605-1609)
Giulio Cesare Martinengo (1609-1613)
Claudio Monteverdi (1613-1644)
Giovanni Rovetta (1644-1668)
Francesco Cavalli (1668-1676)
Natale Monferrato (1676-1685)
Giovanni Legrenzi (1685-1690)
Giovanni Battista Volpe (1690-1692)
Gian Domenico Partenio (1692-1702)
Antonio Biffi (1702-1736)
Antonio Lotti (1736-1740)
Antonio Pollarolo (1740-1747)
Giacomo Giuseppe Saratelli (1747-1762)
Baldassarre Galuppi (1762-1785)
Ferdinando Bertoni (1785-1808)
Bonaventura Furlanetto (1808-1811)
Giovanni Agostino Perotti (1811-1855)
Antonio Buzzolla (1855-1871)
Nicolò Coccon (1871-1894)
Lorenzo Perosi (1894-1898)
Pietro Magri (1898-1899)
Giulio Bas (1899-1900)
Delfino Thermignon (1900-1921)
Umberto Ravetta (1921-1926)
Matteo Tosi (1926-1938)
Gastone De Zuccoli (1938-1939)
Luigi Vio (1939-1954)
Alfredo Bravi (1954-1981)
Roberto Micconi (1981-2000)
Marco Gemmani since 2000

First Organists

Zucchetto (1316-1336)
Francesco da Pesaro (1336-1369)
Giandomenico Dattolo (1369-1375)
Andrea da San Silvestro (1375-1379)
Joannino Tagiapiera (1379-1389)
Antonio de' Servi (1389-1397)
Filippo (1397-1406)
Zuanne (1406-1414)
Antonio Romano (1414-1419)
Bernardino (1419-1445)
Bernardo di Stefano Murer (1445-1459)
Bartolomeo di Batista de Vielmis (1459-1504)
Zuan Maria di Marino (1504-1507)
Dionisio Memmo (1507-1516)
Giovanni Armonio (1516-1552)
Annibale Padovano (1552-1566)
Claudio Merulo (1566-1584)
Andrea Gabrieli (1584-1585)
Giovanni Gabrieli (1585-1612)
Giampaolo Savi (1612-1619)
Giovanni Battista Grillo (1619-1621)
Francesco Usper (1621-1623)
Carlo Filago (1623-1644)
Massimiliano Neri (1644-1665)
Francesco Cavalli (1665-1668)
Giovanni Antonio Gianettini (1668-1669)
Pietro Andrea Ziani (1669-1670)
Giovanni Battista Volpe (1678-1690)
Giacomo Filippo Spada (1690-1706)
Antonio Lotti (1706-1736)
Giacomo Giuseppe Saratelli (1736)
Agostino Bonaventura Coletti (1736-1752)
Ferdinando Bertoni (1752-1785)
Giovanni Battista Grazioli (1785-1821)
Carlo Faggi (1821-1856)
Nicolò Coccon (1856-1873)
Giuseppe Manfrini (1873-1875)
Andrea Girardi (1875-1895)
Oreste Ravanello (1895-1904)
Giovanni Pittau (1904-1956)
Carmelo Pavan (1956-1975)
Roberto Micconi (1975-2016)
Pierpaolo Turetta (2016-2021)
Alvise Mason since 2021

The modern cappella

A boys choir was added 1890, disbanded 1960. In 2002, the Solisti della Cappella Marciana were formed as a concert giving orchestra. The current director from 2000 is Marco Gemmani, and organist from 2021 is Alvise Mason.

References

^ Fiona Kisby, Music and musicians in Renaissance cities and towns, page 36, 2001. "On many of the more important feasts in the Venetian calendar, the cappella marciana walked in the andata, so did the singers employed by some of the wealthier scuole, as their participation in the public ceremonial of the city became ..."
^ Camillo Boito, The Basilica of S. Mark in Venice, 1888. "At this time the choral and liturgical books of the basilica Marciana were written and excellently illuminated by the Brescian ... Commencing with the early years of the XIV century, and looking over the records of the Capella Marciana."
^ James H. Moore, Vespers at Saint Mark's: Music of Alessandro Grandi, Giovanni ..., Volume 2, 1981. "Moving out of the ASV altogether, we find two other Venetian libraries which hold important sources on the cappella marciana: the Biblioteca del Civico Museo Correr and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana."
^ F. Caffi, Storia della musica sacra nella già Cappella ducale di San Marco in Venezia dal 1318 al 1797.

External links

Cappella Marciana website (Italian)

[1] Fiona Kisby, Music and musicians in Renaissance cities and towns, page 36, 2001. "On many of the more important feasts in the Venetian calendar, the cappella marciana walked in the andata, so did the singers employed by some of the wealthier scuole, as their participation in the public ceremonial of the city became ..."

[2] Camillo Boito, The Basilica of S. Mark in Venice, 1888. "At this time the choral and liturgical books of the basilica Marciana were written and excellently illuminated by the Brescian ... Commencing with the early years of the XIV century, and looking over the records of the Capella Marciana."

[3] James H. Moore, Vespers at Saint Mark's: Music of Alessandro Grandi, Giovanni ..., Volume 2, 1981. "Moving out of the ASV altogether, we find two other Venetian libraries which hold important sources on the cappella marciana: the Biblioteca del Civico Museo Correr and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana."

[4] F. Caffi, Storia della musica sacra nella già Cappella ducale di San Marco in Venezia dal 1318 al 1797.

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