Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

3. The Spanish era (1503–1734).

Naples lost its independence in the early years of the 16th century and entered into a long period of foreign domination, first as a viceroyalty of Spain (1503–1707), then of Austria (1707–34), before becoming once again the capital of a kingdom. This period has traditionally been considered one of serious cultural decline, but recently the role of Naples in these years has been re-evaluated as one of the great centres of European culture. This can be seen in science, philosophy, literature and figurative art, but it is even more apparent in music. It was in this period that the legend of the ‘Neapolitan school’ came into being, and the city was able to enhance its reputation as, together with Venice, the principal musical centre of Italy.

The roots of this legend lay in the lost ‘golden age’ of the Aragonese era; and while the few surviving documents cannot prove a genuine musical interest on the part of the kings of Naples, it is certain that they wished to construct an image of power that involved music, and the display of the largest and most important royal chapel in Europe. In the early part of the 16th century Pontano, Sannazaro, Summonte and other intellectuals then revived the legend of the city's foundation by the siren Partenope, selecting it as the symbol of Naples' destiny to become the kingdom of music.

(i) Aristocratic and popular music.

(ii) The Palace Royal Chapel.

(iii) The ‘most faithful city’ and the Treasury of S Gennaro.

(iv) The SS Annunziata, Congregazione dell'Oratorio and other churches.

(v) The confraternities.

(vi) The conservatories.

(vii) Instruments and instrumental music.

(viii) Music publishing and theoretical treatises.

(ix) Vocal music and opera.

Naples, §3: The Spanish era (1503–1734)

(i) Aristocratic and popular music.

This legend served to justify a distinct change in the education of young Neapolitan aristocrats, who were prevented by the new powers from following the traditional pursuits of combat and chivalry. For the first time learning to sing, play instruments and dance had an important place in the education of young noblemen. A number of Neapolitan nobles quickly became highly skilled in the art of music, publishing theoretical treatises (A.M. Acquaviva d'Aragona in 1524, Luigi Dentice in 1552, Scipione Cerreto at the beginning of the 17th century) and anthologies, particularly of polyphony and sacred music. Promising composers such as Ghiselin Danckerts, Lassus, Giaches de Wert and Philippe de Monte, and virtuosos on various instruments were called to the city for their education. It is no coincidence that during the 16th century no fewer than 25 Neapolitan composers belonged to various ranks of the nobility, among them Gesualdo, Dentice, Caracciolo and Nenna. The idealized image of a prince of music had already appeared in Jacopo de Jennaro's poem Le sei etade de la vita humana which placed the noble Vincenzo di Belprato ‘at the head of all musicians’, and it was first embodied in the Prince of Salerno, Ferrante Sanseverino, who dominated artistic life in Naples in the first half of the 16th century. He transformed his famous palace (now the church of the Gesù Nuovo) into an auditorium for concerts and staged performances, obtained the participation of leading musicians and introduced the first comedies with music to Naples. Although he was exiled for life by the Spanish viceroy Pedro de Toledo after the failed revolution of 1547, his example served to break down any remaining ideological barriers between patronage and participation in music: one of Prince Ferrante's musicians, the cavalier Fabrizio Dentice (son of Luigi), became one of the most celebrated virtuoso lutenists of the century, and his polyphonic compositions were long performed by the leading musical chapels. At the end of the 16th century, the Prince of Venosa, Carlo Gesualdo, brought the principal Neapolitan professional musicians together in a symbolic battle with the aristocratic amateurs of his circle. The influence of Gesualdo's taste for extreme experimentation lingered on in Naples even after his death in 1613 and prevented the latest northern Italian musical trends (Florentine accompanied monody and Monteverdi's Venetian stile concertato) from taking root until at least 1630.

Naples, §3: The Spanish era (1503–1734)

(ii) The Palace Royal Chapel.

The musical establishment of the Aragonese kings included both the singers and ministriles (instrumentalists) of the royal chapel and the wind players at the Castel Nuovo, who were supplemented by other players from the other royal garrisons for the most formal ceremonies. These permanent positions did not suddenly disappear with the fall of the dynasty in 1503. The last king, Federico, had kept his chapel active to the end and probably took some of his favourite musicians with him during his brief exile in France. Some Neapolitan musicians preferred to seek new, more secure posts at other courts in Italy and Europe; but certainly there were still many left in Naples during the visit of King Ferdinand V in 1506, because he added new, Neapolitan members to his own chapel for his journey home. Even then the activities of the royal chapel and of the players at the Castello did not cease altogether: they were put in the service of the viceroy for ceremonies of state.

There is no documentation of the chapel singers in the first half of the 16th century, although we know that in 1507 the senior chaplain was Giovan Maria Pulderico, Archbishop of Nazareth. There are, however, receipts for payments made in 1510 and 1514 to four ministriles (the players at Castel Nuovo); the ordinary players were supplemented by ‘extraordinary’ ones: six in 1511, a drummer and, from 1530, a trombone. In 1540 the viceroy Pedro de Toledo moved the royal chapel to the new royal palace he had built next to the Castello. Documentation of the continuing activity of the royal chapel resumes only in May 1555, and for this reason it was believed to have been re-established that year by the viceroy, and was from then on known as ‘di Palazzo’, possibly to distinguish it from the former ‘del Castello’. The first maestro of the new administration was the Spaniard Diego Ortiz (1555–70), who had come with other Spanish musicians in the retinue of Pedro de Toledo. His successor Francisco Martinez de Loscos (1570–83) was also Spanish, while the subsequent maestri of the royal chapel were two Flemings: Bartolomeo Roy (1583–99) and Giovanni de Macque (1599–1614), with brief interludes when the assistant maestro, Bartolomeo Carfora, was in charge. The composer Stefano Lando is listed in the personnel under the description of ‘conservatore delle viole’ from 1565 to 1571.

The destruction of the treasury registers of the Archivio di Stato in Naples means that we have no information on composition in the chapel during that period, but Salvatore Di Giacomo compiled a list of at least 93 musicians for 1555 to 1603 (manuscript in I-Nn, to be combined with the surviving papers in the archive of Ulisse Prota-Giurleo entitled Catalogo generale del servizio musicale a Napoli, 1560–1800). All the maestri of the royal chapel kept the post until their deaths, a clear indication of the position's prestige. During the time when the viceroy was the Duke of Alba, in 1588, the royal chapel directed by Ortiz (the organist was the renowned Spanish theorist Francisco de Salinas) amounted to at least 15 members.

When Macque died in 1614, the first Italian maestro, G.M. Trabaci, was elected. The chapel was then made up of 26 choristers (seven sopranos, four altos, three countertenors, six tenors and six basses) and 12 instrumentalists (six violins, cornetto, trombone, lute, harp and two organists). Among the most important figures who belonged to the chapel were Pietro Cerone, G.S. Ranieri, G.D. Montella, Ascanio Maione, P.A. Guarino and Francesco Lambardi. Apart from one reform carried out by the viceroy Cardinal Zapata in 1621 with the intention of reducing costs, the make-up of the royal chapel (which had changed location again, joining the vice-regal court in the new palace constructed in 1602) remained practically unchanged up to the time of Alessandro Scarlatti, although the plague of 1656 killed 20 of its 35 members, including the maestro di cappella.

The duties of the royal chapel were naturally principally linked to court ceremonies and in consequence to the taste and habits of the viceroy. Pedro de Toledo, for example, took every opportunity to use the chapel: ‘He kept the portable royal chapel excessively well attired, and served by the finest prelates and priests, and excellent singers; and wherever he went, he took it with him’. There is a wealth of information on the chapel's contributions to the various feasts of the liturgical year or to state occasions in the court Etiquetas copied by Raneo in 1634, as well as in a number of supplementary sources. The prefaces of opera librettos often reveal the involvement of the royal chapel in opera performances not only in the royal palace, but also at the Teatro di S Bartolomeo and other locations in the city. Even more frequent was its participation in public ceremonies in the city's churches and squares. Throughout the 17th century choristers always outnumbered players (20 against 12 to 14), with one organ and harpsichord builder.

When Alessandro Scarlatti arrived in Naples in 1683 in the retinue of the new viceroy del Carpio, he initiated a double revolution in the age-old traditions of the chapel. The elderly Francesco Provenzale's failure to be elected as Ziani's successor, despite being considered the most deserving Neapolitan candidate for the post, led to a mutiny by six royal choristers and instrumentalists loyal to him. All six places were filled by Roman musicians who had come with Scarlatti, while he himself was appointed the new maestro di cappella (–1704). Scarlatti left the chapel several times to travel abroad, and for two short periods it was directed by leading Neapolitan musicians: Gaetano Veneziano (1704–7) and Francesco Mancini (1708). In 1702 Alessandro Scarlatti's son Domenico entered the royal chapel as organist, although he too did not stay long. In 1704 the establishment consisted of the maestro, vice-maestro, three organists, and 19 choristers of the first rank (including the famous castratos Matteo Sassani and Nicolini), as well as eight violins, two violas, two double basses and one harp. By this time duties of the royal chapel had changed, and it was employed much more in the opera performances in the palace and in the city theatres, and less in official liturgical ceremonies. The single innovation in the years of the Austrian viceroyalty was that of a new bureaucratic post, the Captain of the German Guard, who was the chief inspector of matters relating to the royal chapel, and who shared with the maestro di cappella the responsibility for decision-making which had formerly been the preserve of the senior chaplain.

On the death of Alessandro Scarlatti, Mancini was again appointed (1725–37), followed by Domenico Sarro (1737–44). Sarro was the first of the maestri of the Bourbon age, which represents the final phase of the royal chapel's existence. His successors were Leonardo Leo (1744), Giuseppe de Majo (1745–71, replaced for a short time by Giuseppe Vitagliano), Pasquale Cafaro (1771–87) and Vincenzo Orgitano (1787–1805). Distinguished names also appear among the organists and other members of the chapel, including Domenico Auletta (1779–89), Domenico Cimarosa (1779–99) and Niccolò Piccinni (1771–1776).

Naples, §3: The Spanish era (1503–1734)