Introduction The rich history of music in Venice extends back to the founding of the city in the early Middle Ages, although relatively little is known about music prior to the 15th century. Because of the wide geographical span of its trade relations with both the East and the West, it was continuously influenced by styles that originated in many parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Although Venice bred a great many musicians of rare skill, the Republic frequently searched for talented performers and composers through diplomatic networks. Important chapters in the development of instrumental music were written in Venice: for
lute and for
organ in the 16th century, for
instrumental ensemble in the 17th, and for
virtuoso performance in the 18th. The institution of opera theaters, open to a fee-paying public in 1637, followed a long period of private performance before noble audiences of plays with musical numbers. The relationship of these
commedie to early opera remain a little-explored area. Festive church music, often performed before the same select audiences as private concerts of instrumental and vocal music, was what many visitors remembered the longest. Even the traditional
barcarola tunes sung by Venetian
gondoliers developed into an important genre of classical music. The many transformations that Venetian culture underwent in connection with the collapse of the Republic (1797), the turbulence of Napoleonic rule, the strictures of Austrian administration, and the vicissitudes of the Italian state (since 1866) have left their distinct marks on the music made in Venice. Venice has remained an important venue for the gestation of new music through the activities of such composers as
Nino Rota,
Luigi Nono, and several others. The
Veneto continues to breed musicians and ensembles of the highest rank.
Church music Venice developed a distinctive tradition of church music. There were services with elaborate music at
St Mark's Basilica and other buildings in the city. The seminal Venetian composer to emerge from this creative milieu was
Claudio Monteverdi (see
Vespro della Beata Vergine published in 1610). Others were
Andrea Gabrieli and
Giovanni Gabrieli, both known for antiphonal compositions of brass music, derived for the acoustics of the Basilica. The Gabrielis established the pinnacle of brass antiphonal effect with double and triple choirs, complete with dynamic markings, and spatial location direction. Brass players to this day remain indebted to the Gabrielis for their contributions to the literature. The
Sacrae Symphoniae (1597) and
Canzoni (1608) are among the first published works of music.
Opera in Venice While early opera of the late 1590s was put on for private audiences in
Florence, opera as a commercial endeavor started in
Venice in the 1630s with performances in the new
Teatro Tron in the parish of S. Cassiano, the first opera house ever opened to the public. A second theater, the
Teatro di SS. Giovanni e Paolo was also opened for opera. Then in 1640 came the
Teatro San Moisè and in 1641 the
Teatro Novissimo. Crucial to the successful beginnings of opera in Venice was the presence of Claudio Monteverdi, whose move to that city from
Mantua in 1613 rejuvenated the musical life of Venice. The success of Monteverdi and opera in Venice led directly to the opening of similar theaters elsewhere in Italy. In Naples, for example, the first opera house, the San Bartolomeo Theater, was opened in 1621, when the public was invited to hear the "new music from the north"—
"musica Veneziana" (Venetian music). In Venice, the opera season corresponded to the
Carnevale—that is, the weeks leading up to
Lent. Operatic productions decreased a bit in the late 17th century, but picked up as theaters started charging prices that more people could afford. The social function of the opera and the timing of the opera season in Venice go hand in hand.
Carnevale was a time of the year when Venice was an international meeting ground, a time when matters besides music were discussed, even at the opera. Theaters were forums for the rich and powerful to discuss the present and the future of the
Venetian Republic in its wars against the Turks, for example.
Orphanages Historically, the four most important "hospitals" in the Republic of Venice (besides caring for the sick and elderly) were, in fact, orphanages where young children might be taught a useful trade. One of these trades was music; thus, the hospitals developed into true music conservatories of the day.
Antonio Vivaldi taught at the
Ospedale della Pietà. (Compare the similar function of Spanish orphanages/conservatories in
Naples.) ==Current venues and activities==