Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- CHAPTER 1 The Life of Benigno Zerafa (1726–1804): A Maltese Composer of Sacred Music
- CHAPTER 2 A Concise History of Church Music in Malta: From the Late Fifteenth Century to the Eighteenth Century
- CHAPTER 3 Naples during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- CHAPTER 4 Classification of Zerafa's Works, Sources and Commentary
- CHAPTER 5 The Works a due cori (SATB×2)
- CHAPTER 6 The Works for Five Voices (SSATB)
- CHAPTER 7 The Works for Four Voices (SATB)
- CHAPTER 8 The Works for Three and Two Voices, and for Solo Voice
- CHAPTER 9 The Works for Voice(s) and Organ/Basso Continuo Only
- CHAPTER 10 Conclusion
- APPENDIX 1 Catalogue of Works: Chronological, by Date
- APPENDIX 2 Catalogue of Works: Alphabetical by Title
- APPENDIX 3 Catalogue of Works: by Vocal Scoring and Instrumentation
- Bibliography
- Index
CHAPTER 3 - Naples during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2016
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- CHAPTER 1 The Life of Benigno Zerafa (1726–1804): A Maltese Composer of Sacred Music
- CHAPTER 2 A Concise History of Church Music in Malta: From the Late Fifteenth Century to the Eighteenth Century
- CHAPTER 3 Naples during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- CHAPTER 4 Classification of Zerafa's Works, Sources and Commentary
- CHAPTER 5 The Works a due cori (SATB×2)
- CHAPTER 6 The Works for Five Voices (SSATB)
- CHAPTER 7 The Works for Four Voices (SATB)
- CHAPTER 8 The Works for Three and Two Voices, and for Solo Voice
- CHAPTER 9 The Works for Voice(s) and Organ/Basso Continuo Only
- CHAPTER 10 Conclusion
- APPENDIX 1 Catalogue of Works: Chronological, by Date
- APPENDIX 2 Catalogue of Works: Alphabetical by Title
- APPENDIX 3 Catalogue of Works: by Vocal Scoring and Instrumentation
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Lying on the west coast of Italy 120 miles south-east of Rome, in the fertile province of Campania, Naples was by far the most important city of southern Italy. In the eighteenth century it became renowned for its accomplishments in music, art, architecture and literature, and among the many prominent people who had words of praise for this city were P. J. Grosley, G. F. Coyer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Antonio Eximeno y Pujades. Charles de Brosses (1709–77) visited Naples in 1739 while Zerafa was studying there; his statement that Naples was ‘the capital of the world's music’, manages to capture the city's important musical position at the beginning of Bourbon rule. According to de Brosses, Naples was the only Italian city that seemed truly metropolitan, similar to Paris and London.
The history of Naples towards the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century (central to our study) is marked by a series of wars between the Spanish and the Austrians, who fought for its possession. Carolyn Gianturco explains the difficult times Naples passed through:
In the complex game of European struggle for power, Naples clearly played a major role. To the locals it was, instead, simply a game of survival. The hardships caused by famine, poverty, drought, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were sufficient to make their lives miserable. To these sufferings were added the misfortune and humiliation of living under foreign rulers – the Spanish, the Austrians, and again the Spanish.
Nevertheless, from a purely cultural point of view, the history of Naples from the late-seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century is a lively one. Throughout this period some aspects of Neapolitan life remained constant, one of them being music. The principal kind of music being written during this time was opera, a preferred entertainment of the viceroys. Opera was usually given in the Teatro San Bartolomeo or the Teatro dei Fiorentini, as well as in the viceregal palace itself. The Teatro San Bartolomeo also offered plays adapted to the Neapolitan taste by Neapolitan authors. Opera was given during much of the year (during carnival, in April, in August, in October and in November), and was also a preferred means of celebrating an event in the life of a ruler or an anniversary such as a birthday, name-day or wedding-day.
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- Benigno Zerafa (1726-1804) and the Neapolitan Galant Style , pp. 77 - 102Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2016