876 jonathan glixon
renato lunelli. Dalla libera attempts to trace the history of the organs
in every Venetian church and describes those that survive, while lunelli
focuses on the builders (for the renaissance, the names of colombo and
colonna are most prominent). gastone Vio has unearthed a considerable
amount of documentation on the building of organs for various churches,
and i have documented those of the confraternities. Most recently, Mas-
simo Bisson has scoured the archives for information on the placement of
organs in Venetian churches in the renaissance and their not-infrequent
relocation from one position to another.
Secular Vocal Musicwhile religious music and institutions are by far the best documented seg-
ment of the musical life of renaissance Venice, there was, of course, a vast
amount of secular music-making as well. leonardo giustinian, mentioned
above in connection with the lauda, was one of the principal figures in the
italian tradition of poetry for music and was well known as a performer
of his own songs. it is with the 16th century, however, that Venice’s sig-
nificance as a center for musical settings of italian poetry emerges. the
madrigal was probably born in Florence in the 1530s, but it was develop-
ments in Venice that helped to make the genre one of the most popular
throughout europe in the second half of the century. As Martha Feldman
has demonstrated, in several articles and an important monograph, the
Venetian literary circle around pietro Bembo, particularly through the
academy of Domenico Venier, played a vital role in bringing together
musical techniques to turn the madrigal into the expressive vehicle that
made it famous. the renewed interest in serious poetry, returning to the
refinements of petrarch, was accompanied by an effort, led by Adrian wil-
laert and his disciples, to find musical styles and techniques worthy of set-
ting these sonnets and other poems. these composers became, in effect,
interpreters of the poetry, with willaert particularly interested in the
sophisticated syntax, and his followers, most notably cipriano de rore,
more concerned with the changing affects and images.
the madrigal was certainly the most elevated of secular italian musical
genres, but Venice also saw the cultivation of a number of lighter, more
popular genres, sometimes in a theatrical context, including some with
texts in more than one language. Music played an important role in Vene-
tian theater in the late 16th century, even before the emergence of opera, as
catalogued by solerti in 1902 and discussed by ivano cavallini. A. william