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This Article is taken from ATRIUM MUSICOLOGICUM
Baldassare Galuppi
by a Venetuan artist,
bearing the date 1751.
Source: Sotheby's.
Author: Venetian School of the 1750s.
(Wikimedia Commons)
It was traditional at Saint Mark’s to adapt the form of the Mass itself to the requirements of worship, but also to conditions more peripheral to the performance: The Kyrie had to be composed by the First Organist, the Gloria and Credo by the maestro di cappella, the Sanctus and Agnus Dei were ideally replaced by a motet and an instrumental composition, while the Proper of the Mass was still intoned in Plainsong according to the Patriarchal Rite.
The fact that the composition of the Kyrie was entrusted to the First Organist shows just how important the role was; the post was viewed not simply as one carrying performance responsibilities, but as an apprenticeship for a possible future appointment as maestro di cappella, which was precisely the course of events in the career of Ferdinando Giuseppe Bertoni.
The Kyrie was, however, considered to be a Section of relatively minor importance, so its preparation was often more hasty and, naturally, the various manuscript sources that preserve such pieces have become separated from those in which the other two Movements of the Ordinary are to be found. The manuscripts of the 1766 and 1767 Christmas Masses are still extant, conserved in Genoa. Galuppi must have provided for the 1765 celebration before leaving for Russia, and by 1768 he was back in Venice. The advantages of his prestigious new post are emphasized on the frontispiece of the Mass:
Shortly before Christmas 1766, the cappella ducale [musicians in the pay of the Duke] had undergone a substantial reform. Usually attributed to Galuppi, this was in all probability (as has been noted on several previous occasions) the work of Gaetano Latilla, the Assistant Maestro. The musical bodies were completely restructured, leading to many of the musicians being pensioned off. To the twenty-four remaining singers, distributed equally among the four conventional Sections, the following instruments were added: a pair of flutes, oboes, horns and trumpets, a solo violin, twelve rank and file violins, six violas, four cellos and four violoni, or bass viols. The institutionally most important posts were held by Latilla (Assistant Maestro but in overall charge during Galuppi’s absence) and the organists Bertoni (first organ), Alvise Tavelli (second organ), and Alessandro Maccari and Domenico Bettoni, who played the organs in the palchetti.
The autograph manuscript shows the Mass structured in the two Movements, Gloria and Credo. The division of these two Prayers is wholly conventional, the Gloria much more expansive than the Credo, where the greater conciseness brings with a gain in textual clarity suited to the importance attributed by Catholic tradition to this major declaration of Faith.
First Master and Director of all the Music for Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of/all the Russias, etc. etc. and First Master of the Ducal Chapel/of Saint Mark’s in Venice.
Shortly before Christmas 1766, the cappella ducale [musicians in the pay of the Duke] had undergone a substantial reform. Usually attributed to Galuppi, this was in all probability (as has been noted on several previous occasions) the work of Gaetano Latilla, the Assistant Maestro. The musical bodies were completely restructured, leading to many of the musicians being pensioned off. To the twenty-four remaining singers, distributed equally among the four conventional Sections, the following instruments were added: a pair of flutes, oboes, horns and trumpets, a solo violin, twelve rank and file violins, six violas, four cellos and four violoni, or bass viols. The institutionally most important posts were held by Latilla (Assistant Maestro but in overall charge during Galuppi’s absence) and the organists Bertoni (first organ), Alvise Tavelli (second organ), and Alessandro Maccari and Domenico Bettoni, who played the organs in the palchetti.
The autograph manuscript shows the Mass structured in the two Movements, Gloria and Credo. The division of these two Prayers is wholly conventional, the Gloria much more expansive than the Credo, where the greater conciseness brings with a gain in textual clarity suited to the importance attributed by Catholic tradition to this major declaration of Faith.
The Gloria has a freer structure, with the Text divided theatrically into ten short Verses, varied in character. The ‘Gloria’, the ‘Gratias agimus tibi’ and the ‘Suscipe’ are all Choral, each with a different tempo marking, the first being Andante spiritoso, the second Largo, the third Allegro. The remaining seven Sections feature solo parts, the soloists almost always specified by name in the manuscript, Pacchierotti and Rolfi were allocated the ‘Domine Deus’ and ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu’, Santi the ‘Qui tollis’, Pacchierotti the ‘Qui sedes’, Rolfi and De Mezzo the ‘Quoniam’.
The manuscript of the Christmas Mass is a rich source of information for anyone interested in the exact deployment of individual performers at Saint Mark’s. As already noted, the twenty-four Choristers and thirty-five Instrumentalists occupied the spaces beside the First and Second Organs, where they must have been uncomfortably cramped. The two palchetti, temporary wooden structures placed above the Sansovino galleries, provided additional space. Removed in 1952, they accommodated an organ and organist, a cello and violone, which meant that the four groups of these instruments could be distributed among the four musical locations to provide an indispensable wholeness suited to the realisation of the continuo.
The manuscript of the Christmas Mass is a rich source of information for anyone interested in the exact deployment of individual performers at Saint Mark’s. As already noted, the twenty-four Choristers and thirty-five Instrumentalists occupied the spaces beside the First and Second Organs, where they must have been uncomfortably cramped. The two palchetti, temporary wooden structures placed above the Sansovino galleries, provided additional space. Removed in 1952, they accommodated an organ and organist, a cello and violone, which meant that the four groups of these instruments could be distributed among the four musical locations to provide an indispensable wholeness suited to the realisation of the continuo.
An examination of the original parts, dating from the second half of the 18th-Century and still preserved in Saint Mark’s archives, yields confirmation of the arrangement. The cello and violone parts carry the added annotation ‘organo I’, ‘organo II’ and ‘palchetto’. There cannot have been more than one or two singers in each palchetto, as it would have been impossible to fit more more than four or five musicians (not forgetting the bulky instruments) into a space which, being just below the Vaulted Roof, had very limited headroom.
The most logical arrangement for the Gloria would have been to place Latilla, Bertoni, Cozzini and Santi (the manuscript expressly states that these last two were altos) in the Chantry of the First Organ, naturally along with a substantial part of the Orchestra and Choir; Tavelli, a cello and a violone plus the rest of the Orchestra and Choir in the Chantry of the Second Organ; Bertoni, De Mazzo (bass), a cello and a violone in the palchetto on the left side; and Pacchierotti (male soprano), Rolfi (alto), Maccari, a cello and a violone in the palchetto on the right side (in line with the Second Organ, within sight of the Chantry of the first), alternating the contributions of the soloists housed in each of these fou chantries.
As we can now see, there was ample scope here for flexibility, the solos (‘Laudamus te’, ‘Domine Fili’, ‘Qui sedes’) and ensemble pieces (e.g. ‘Domine Deus’) being framed by those calling for the customary tutti, resulting in a thrilling theatricality to which all the performers were well accustomed. Among them, Gaspare Pachierotti is certainly the most interesting. Born in Fabriano in 1740, he was on the threshold of a great career as a soprano; he was not only to perform in the most important theatres in Italy and abroad but, lending even greater prominence to his technical and interpretative gifts, would achieve equally well-deserved fame as a teacher.
The other names mentioned are those of the bass Pietro De Mezzo, also well known as a teacher of etiquette in the Venetian ospedali: the alto Pasquale Cozzini (who also in 1766 sang the role of Amasi in Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi’s Sesoseri at San Salvatore); and the alto Pietro Santi (who took the part of Farnaspe in Antonio Mazzoni’s Adriano in Siria at the San Samuele in 1760 and that of Olinto in Antonio Gaetano Pampani’s Demetrio at the San Benedetto in 1760). That Galuppi’s claim to having an expert knowledge of voices was fully justified is confirmed here by the choice of parts he allocated to Pacchierotti, who sang the ‘Domine Deus’ (with Francesco Rolfi) and the ‘Qui sedes’, the Sections which are far and away the most passionate, though the term may seem disrespectful in a Liturgical context) in the whole Mass.
Franco Rossi (2003).
Dixit Dominus.
Psalm 110 for Choir in G Minor.
Composer: Baldassare Galuppi
(1706-1785).
Available on YouTube at
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