8 74 jonathan glixon
sansovino and Andrea palladio), they organized a conference in Venice
in 2005 that brought together musicologists, architectural historians, and
acousticians. scholars examined such topics as the seating in the choir
of san giorgio Maggiore, the location of church organs, and spaces for
music at the ospedali. the following year, in addition to a second con-
ference to discuss the results of the first, Howard and Moretti arranged
for experiments in which the choir of st. John’s college, cambridge per-
formed Venetian repertory in a series of churches in Venice: san Marco;
the monastic churches of san Michele in isola and san giorgio Maggiore;
the conventual churches of the Frari, san Francesco della Vigna, and the
redentore; the parish churches of san giacomo dell’orio, san Martino,
and san giuliano; and the churches at two of the ospedali, the osped-
aletto and the Mendicanti; they also conducted a virtual analysis of the
demolished church of the incurabili, famous for its musical acoustics.
these performances were analyzed both by audience surveys and by the
most modern acoustical techniques. the results, accompanied by detailed
and careful histories of the institutions, the churches, and their musical
traditions, have just appeared in an important new study, Sound and Space
in Renaissance Venice. while, as the authors admit, the results cannot be
conclusive, since renaissance performing situations cannot be completely
reconstructed, this study sheds much light on the situation, and provides
a much needed new perspective.
Instrumental Music and Instrument ManufactureAs mentioned above, san Marco and the other churches and religious
institutions of Venice did not employ solely singers, but instrumentalists
as well, most often (with the exception of the organ) for performances of
separate instrumental works (only around 1600, and the beginnings of the
Baroque, did instruments and voices regularly perform together). once
again, it was gabrieli, with his instrumental ensemble canzoni and sonate,
published in 1597 and 1612, that spurred the attention of musicologists,
but earlier developments also received some attention. in addition to the
monographs on gabrieli’s life and works discussed above, all of which
devoted considerable attention to his instrumental works, stefan Kunze,
in 1963, dedicated an entire monograph to them, examining their musical
structure and style, and the use of multiple “choirs” of instruments.
the origins of the “orchestra” of san Marco, and of the parallel cer-
emonial piffari of the doge, often depicted in images of ducal processions,