7 - Making a Name in Music: Professional and Social Strategies of the Musicians at the Venetian Ospedali Maggiori

Summary

Abstract: In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Venice, hundreds of poor and abandoned girls and women turned to one of the four charitable Ospedali Maggiori for help and refuge. Those who had a musical talent, however, could find a life of relative privilege and distinction as one of the institutions’ female musicians, known as figlie di coro. These figlie di coro often became esteemed musicians, performing publicly and teaching music throughout their lives. This essay tells the stories of specific figlie di coro and the networks on which they relied to support their advantageous musical careers. Their own personal letters reveal insight to the connections that they developed through their musical prestige, which in turn helped them navigate various life choices and hardships faced by women in Venetian society.

Keywords: Venice, music, musical careers, charitable institutions, ospedali, patronage

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, hundreds of young girls and women entered Venice's four charitable Ospedali Maggiori to find relief from poverty, sickness, or childhood abandonment. Those who demonstrated musical skill could spend years training and later work among the Ospedali's reputable female musicians known as figlie di coro. In performances, these musicians awed crowds of prestigious visitors, and some became sought-after instructors for daughters of noble families. Yet, the sustained esteem of the figlie di coro depended on the networks of individuals, inside and outside the Ospedali Maggiori, who helped to initiate and solidify the careers of Venice's exceptional female musicians. Found primarily among administrative documents held at the Venetian Archivio di Stato, letters from the figlie di coro and their kinfolk to the patrician men who oversaw the Ospedali Maggiori allow us to track these layered relationships. Family members sent supplications for protection and help for individual musicians, patrons bestowed favors, and patrician administrators interceded as paternal figures. Crucial to the musicians’ success was the cultivation of advantageous connections and the building of personal authority based on their musical accomplishments.

For many figlie di coro the only adult life they ever knew took place within the Ospedali Maggiori.