Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Last updated

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Logo icartists(dot)co(dot)uk.jpg

The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (English: National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull Ratione congruit, issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Gregory the Great, for whom the Gregorian chant is named, and Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Since 2005 it has been headquartered at the Renzo Piano designed Parco della Musica in Rome.

Contents

It was founded as a "congregation", or "confraternity", and over the centuries has grown from a forum for local musicians and composers to an internationally acclaimed academy active in music scholarship (with 100 prominent music scholars forming the body of the Accademia), music education (in its role as a conservatory) and performance (with an active choir and a symphony orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia). The category of alumni of the associated conservatory (which in 1919 succeeded a liceo) includes many noted composers and performers.

History

The first seat of the Congregation from 1585 to 1622 was the church of Santa Maria ad Martires, better known as the Pantheon. Successive relocations were to the church of San Paolino alla Colonna (1622–52), Santa Cecilia in Trastevere (1652–61), San Nicola dei Cesarini (1661–1663), Chiesa della Maddalena (1663–85), and, finally, San Carlo ai Catinari in 1685. [1]

Musicians of the academy posing before the concert they gave at the Palazzo Doria Pamphili, Rome. Giuseppe Branzoli, seated in the foreground, holds a mandolone Academy santa cecilia musicians.jpg
Musicians of the academy posing before the concert they gave at the Palazzo Doria Pamphili, Rome. Giuseppe Branzoli, seated in the foreground, holds a mandolone

During the first century of existence, the Congregation was the workshop of a number of prominent musicians and composers of the day, including Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. The institution in that period was often in rivalry with the other important musical organization of Papal Rome of the day, the Sistine Choir. Rivalry centred on the rights to control access to the musical profession, to train musicians, and to publish music. The rivalry never really ended and can be said to have lasted through the entire existence of the Papal States, that is, until 1870, when the "temporal power of the Church" was ended by military action of the new nation state of Italy. [1]

The early 18th century is considered to have been a particularly glorious time for the Accademia. Among names associated with the organization during that period are Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, and Niccolò Jommelli. In 1716, Pope Clement XI decreed that all musicians practising their profession in Rome were required to become members of the Congregation. The Accademia suspended operations during the revolutionary period of the Napoleonic Wars but opened regularly again in 1822 a few years after the Restoration brought about by the Congress of Vienna. [1]

The years between that reopening and the end of the Papal States in 1870 were ones of great change. The organization opened its membership to hitherto excluded categories, such as dancers, poets, music historians, musical instrument makers, and music publishers. In 1838, the Congregation of Santa Cecilia was officially proclaimed an academy and then a Papal Academy. The list of active and honorary members of the Accademia during that period is formidable and includes Cherubini, Mercadante, Donizetti, Rossini, Paganini, Auber, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Gounod, and Meyerbeer. Among the crowned heads of Europe who were honorary members was Queen Victoria. [1]

After the unification of Italy, the Accademia reestablished itself with the formation of a permanent symphony orchestra and choir, beginning in 1895. It went from being the seat of a Liceo musicale—a music "high school"—to being a full-blown conservatory; also, it hosts the "Eleonora Duse" Drama School, as well as a centre for experimental cinema. The most recent innovation has been the digitisation and cataloguing of centuries of musical documents—including an important collection of traditional music in the ethnomusicological archives—and their preservation and eventual display in the Accademia's multimedia library and archive also available to the public online. The Accademia also maintains a musical instruments museum (the MUSA). [1]

Alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Cecilia</span> Christian martyr and patron saint of music

Saint Cecilia, also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the patroness of music and musicians, it being written that, as the musicians played at her wedding, Cecilia "sang in her heart to the Lord". Musical compositions are dedicated to her, and her feast, on 22 November, is the occasion of concerts and musical festivals. She is also known as Cecilia of Rome.

George Tsontakis is an American composer and conductor.

Azio Corghi was an Italian composer, academic teacher and musicologist. He composed mostly operas and chamber music. His operas are often based on literature, especially in collaboration with José Saramago as librettist. His first opera, Gargantua, was premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1984, his second opera, Blimunda, was first performed at La Scala in Milan in the 1989/90 season, and his third opera, Divara – aqua e sangue, was premiered in 1993 at the Theater Münster, Germany. He taught composition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, among other academies. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

The culture of music in Rome is intensely active. The venues for live music include:

The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in the Sala Santa Cecilia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardino Molinari</span>

Bernardino Molinari was an Italian conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Pedrotti</span> Italian composer and conductor

Antonio Pedrotti was an Italian conductor and composer.

Mario Zafred was an Italian composer, music critic, and opera director. He also served as the president of various Italian music conservatories including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Rengim Gokmen is a Turkish conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music school</span> Institution specializing in music education

A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department, conservatory, conservatorium or conservatoire. Instruction consists of training in the performance of musical instruments, singing, musical composition, conducting, musicianship, as well as academic and research fields such as musicology, music history and music theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Bertoncini</span> Italian composer, pianist, and music educator (1932–2019)

Mario Bertoncini was an Italian composer, pianist, and music educator. In 1962 he was awarded the Nicola d'Atri Prize by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for his Sei Pezzi per orchestra and in 1965 he was awarded both the Gaudeamus International Composers Award and the Fondation européenne de la Culture prize for Quodlibet. He has performed as a concert pianist with symphony orchestras throughout Europe and North America and in Israel and Korea.

Filippo Maria Bressan is an Italian conductor.

Lucio Gregoretti is an Italian composer. He composed stage operas, symphonic and chamber music, electro-acoustic music, as well as incidental music for theatre plays, musical comedies, and film scores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocco Filippini</span> Swiss musician (1943–2021)

Rocco Filippini was a Swiss classical cellist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmelo Bernaola</span> Spanish composer and clarinetist

Carmelo Alonso Bernaola was a Spanish composer and clarinetist from Basque Country. A member of the Generation of '51, he was one of the most influential composers in the Spanish musical scene of the second half of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Józef Świder</span> Polish composer and music teacher (1930–2014)

Józef Świder was a Polish composer and music teacher.

Sylvia Haydée Kersenbaum is an Argentine pianist, composer and teacher. Among other things, she is recognized for performing the complete cycle of 32 Beethoven piano sonatas twice, and her music for the ballet The Masque of the Red Death, based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservatorio Santa Cecilia</span>

The Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia is a state conservatory in Rome.

<i>Cecilia, vergine romana</i> Composition for mixed choir and orchestra by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt

Cecilia, vergine romana is a composition for mixed choir and orchestra by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, written in 2000 for the Great Jubilee in Rome. The Italian text deals with the life and martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, and was first performed on 19 November 2000, close to her feast day on 22 November, by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Myung-whun Chung.

Ottavio Ziino was an Italian composer, conductor and academic.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Official website". Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  2. ↑ Madeleine Bodier-little (5 December 2013). "Jacqueline Martel". The Canadian Encyclopedia .

41°55′44″N12°28′28″E / 41.92889°N 12.47444°E / 41.92889; 12.47444

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.