Rovetta's Music for Holy Week
Relatively little music for Holy Week survives from the Venetian seicento. For the period up through1600, more is known about the liturgy than about the music which complemented it. A detailed study of theHoly Week liturgy c.1600 has recently been published by John Bettley.1 In only a few particulars out ofdozens does this liturgy vary from the prescriptions given in a tavola of the duties of San Marco's musicians
printed in 1761.2 In its constituent parts, therefore, the elements of the Holy Week observation were largely
fixed. The listing below contains the items arguably requiring composed music that appear both in Bettley'slisting and in the tavola. Interpolations in brackets contain additional information conveyed in the 1761
source.
Palm Sunday

Tuesday
Wednesday

Holy (Maundy) Thursday

Passion [a cappella]
Mass [a cappella in bigonzo]
Vespers [in bigonzo]
Compline [a cappella]
Passion (solo)
Mass and Passion [c.1600 only3 ]Lamentations [1-3]Responses
Benedictus
Miserere mei, Deus
Mass [a cappella in bigonzo][Hymn at Communion]
Lamentations 4 [4-6]Hymn for the Exposition of the Sacred Blood 5

1John Bettley, "The Office of Holy Week at St. Mark's Venice, in the late 16th Century, and the Musical Contributions of Giovanni
Croce," Early Music XXII/1 (1994), 45-62.
2"Tavola de' giorni di tutto l'anno, nei quali li cantori, organisti, e sonatori devono intervenire nella nostra chiesa di S. Marco,"
Venice, Archivio di Stato [=A.S.V.], Procuratia de Supra, Busta 90, loose folio. The tavola was drafted before 1515, when it was
first revised, newly transcribed in 1694, and revised in 1761.
3

These items could have been eliminated at San Marco when the doge adopted the practice of visiting S. Giovanni Elemosinario on
this date; cf. the undated "Feste di Palazzo," Museo Correr, Codex Cicogna S. 165 (N. 2975). The only datable events mentioned
occurred in the 1570s, but the source seems to have been written a few decades later.
4
5

Matins on Holy Thursday followed the format of the preceding day, according to the tavola.

In the evening of Holy Thursday, according to the tavola, four singers from the cappella were required for the hymn for the
Exposition of the Sacred Blood. Bettley's account reports that canons sang the hymn Vexilla regis. This observation may have gained
importance after 1670, when additional relics were retrieved from Candia (E. Selfridge-Field, PALLADE VENETA: Writings on Musicin Venetian Society [Venice: Fondazione Levi, 1985], p. 214).

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

Good Friday

SaturdayEaster Sunday

2

Mass [c. 1600 only][Tracts]
Passion [St. John]
Improperia [a due cori]
Lamentations [7-9]6Tracts[Hymn Rex Sanctorum]
Mass 7
Vespers [a cappella in bigonzo]
Magnificat [c.1600]
Mass 8Vespers 9

On some days Vespers were spoken only, and a number of the items listed here may have been chanted orrecited.
The period from 1600 to 1761 was apparently one in which several changes were made to the liturgy. The
only substantial work that has been done on this period is that of the late James Moore.10 Moore was able
to determine that the bigonzo was the "tub" that served as a pulpit and that it could accommodate as manyas eleven performers. His work, being concerned primarily with Vespers, has little to say directly aboutmusic for Holy Week. On noteworthy finding, however, is that a mass was still performed on Good Friday
through 1755. Starting in 1761 it is no longer mentioned.11***
It is a commonly held assumption in musical scholarship that where documentation fails, musical sources
can succeed. In the case of Rovetta, the point is moot: there is a substantial surviving body of music,
including many works in multiple copies, that contains several items obviously for Holy Week. This corpus,

6

Matins was to be celebrated as on the preceding two days.

7

In Bettley's account of the liturgy in c. 1600 (p. 49) the mass was interrupted after Communion for Vespers and was completed withthe response "Deo gratias".
8

According to the tavola singers were positioned in the organ lofts, with palchetti and instruments, for this Mass. This practice may
have been introduced by Cavalli. One of Cavalli's first reforms was to order the construction of a short staircase joining the stairs
over the sacristy to facilitate the movement of the maestro, singers, and instrumentalists on those occasions when the doge mingledwith worshippers. The musicians were to follow him from above, remaining in the corridors of the organ lofts (Archivio di Stato
Veneto, Reg. 146, f. 149v, entry of 17 Febraro 1668/9: "Apportando non lieve incomodo al Maestro di Capella, Musici, et Concertidella Chiesa di San Marco dover passar per tutto il corpo nelle solenità principali, et altri tempi quando particolarmente descende
Sua Serenità trà la multitudine delle genti concorrono il tali giorni per andar con luogo giro de corridori agl'organi superiori, che hàdato mottivo al detto Maestro supplicare l'Ecc.mo Proc.r Cassiere di qualche propria provissione per loro comune solevo; Che peròportatosi V. E. alla visione de sitti col Rotto di questa Procuratia hà osservato loco addatato da potersi per hora stabilire una scaletta
molto aggiustata nella scalla, che và sopra la Sagrestia per salire nell'organo essistente in Cornù Evangelij d'essa Chiesa con l'impego
de ducati cento, e vinti in circa solamente").
9

In 1761 with half the musicians in bigonzo and half in the service at San Zaccaria.

10

James Moore, Vespers at St. Mark's: Music of Alessandro Grandi, Giovanni Rovetta, and Francesco Cavalli (Ann Arbor: UMI,
1981).
11

Moore, op. cit., p. 327.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

3

which is described in Appendix 1, enjoyed sufficient longevity to cause it to pass through the hands of many
performers and copyists. An extraordinary philological effort would be required to untangle the many strandsof historical performance that are embedded in these folios. This includes statements describing the uses towhich the music was put.
Diverse collections of unpublished manuscripts of sacred vocal music by Giovanni Rovetta, maestro dicappella at San Marco between the tenures of Monteverdi and Cavalli, that is from 1644 to 1668, survive in
Venice. They document performance traditions from 1655 until the end of the nineteenth century. The
materials perserved in Marciana Cod. It. IV-1134 12 form the most important of these collections, but thosepreserved in the Fondo Musicale della Cappella di San Marco are of considerable interest. Of the 26 liturgicalitems enumerated above, ten can be accommodated with music found among these sources. Documentary
information suggests that Rovetta exercised considerable control over several more. In the cappella's entire
history no other maestro demonstrated such a close regard for works that would meet these liturgical needs.
Through these manuscripts that we can refine some points in the listing of music given above— namely,that the passion on Palm Sunday was that of St. Matthew and that the one on Tuesday was that of St. Mark.
For Good Friday there is conflicting information: sets of turbe extracted from the Gospels of St. Matthew (#4)
and St. John (#5) are both said to be for Good Friday.
The first version (#4a) of the St. Matthew Passion is a copy of a copy made by Gianfrancesco de Sarti in
1682.13 The words "e pel Venerdì Santo" appear to have been added after the title page was first drawn up,
perhaps even in the nineteenth century. Thus the possibility that the Passion according to St. Matthew
superseded that of St. John on Good Friday in the eighteenth century or even after the fall of the Republic
is a distinct possibility. The longer version of the St. Matthew Passion (#4b) makes no reference to Good
Friday.
The Missa Brevis preserved as Item #2 is said in an accompanying note to have been performed on every
Holy (Maundy) Thursday and, by the Scala de' Giganti of the Ducal courtyard, on the feast of St. Nicholas(6 December) through the fall of the Republic (1797). It is an extremely sombre, even lugubrious work, in
D Minor that seems better suited to the first use than the second. Though intense, it is indeed very brief andcan be performed in its entirety within ten minutes. The fact that it concludes
with a "Deo gratias" suggests its suitability for Saturday of Holy Week as well. 14 The music for the "Deogratias" recapitulates the opening Kyrie, giving the work a rounded structure that is absent if the "Deo gratias"
is excluded. The musical basis of the Kyrie could be viewed as a restricted quotation of the opening phraseof a chant unrelated to Holy Week, that of the Kyrie "Cunctipotens Genitor Deus":15

12This codex forms part of the Canal series acquired by the Marciana in 1928. The requiem mass with its attendant motet, "Ad
Dominum cum tribulare," as well as the motets "Beata viscera Mariae Verginis" and "Sancta et immaculate virginitas," have noknown relationship to the Holy Week liturgy. They are listed here because of their physical association in surviving sources.
13
A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Registro 147, f. 155v, entry of 13. Aprile 1682. " . . . de' danari della Cassa della Chiesa sian pagate
due polize de lire tresento quarantanove soldi doi a Gio. Francesco Sarti, et a Padre Maestro Pesaro Carmelitano per intiera
soddisfatione delle copie da loro fatte della Messa; Magnificat, Motteti, et Inni del già Maestro di Capella Roeti [sic], et altre d'unlibro di Canto fermo, et due d'altri Inni compreso la Carta rigata il tutto per servizio della medesima, come nelle due polize de Pre.
Nadal Monferato attual Maestro di quella de' di 30. Nov.e et 8. Marzo pross: passati . . . ."14

In the Roman rite no Credo or Agnus Dei are performed on Saturday. Venetian liturgical practice, being based on the rite of
Aquileia, was significantly different from the Roman rite; a few fragments of Aquileian chant survive to the present day in the San
Marco liturgy. I am very much indebted to Dott. Roberto Micconi, the present organist and maestro di cappella, for his generosity
in enabling me not only to witness current services from the organ lofts but also to examine the music used in them.
15

Class II: 1 in the Liber usualis, p. 25.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

4

While it is not possible within the scope of the present study to relate the texts of the turbe to Venetian
liturgical rubrics, one might mention that in comparison with the texts given in the Liber usualis some minor
differences are evident. In the first set of turbe from the Passion of St. Matthew, many lines of text assigned
to the multitude in the Liber are not set. There are also a few minor word reversals. In the turbe from thePassion of St. John, a substantial amount of material is again not set. The Crucifixion itself is treated in anespecially intense way. In the second set of turbe from the Passion of St. Matthew, a number of items notpresent in the Liber are used, together with all of those that are. Numerous corrections have been made to
the text in order to bring it into conformance with the word order found in the Liber.16
The crowd scenes must be valued for their rarity; no others from the Venetian seicento are preserved.17
The passions from which they come are not immediately performable, however, because there are no
surviving parts for Christ and the Evangelist. The survival of the turbae without alternating choral numbers
for soloists, as in Clinio's work, suggests that these numbers were now taken by soloists. This would beconsistent with the associations of the Rovetta family (examined below) with the rise of a soloistic repertory.
Since the history of the passion at this time remains so poorly defined, the best available clues to performance
may come from the roughly contemporaneous passions of that great admirer of Venetian music, Heinrich
Schütz.18***
T HE R OVETTA F AMILY AND THE T WO P RACTICES
Giovanni Rovetta was an accomplished musician. He was by turns a priest,19 a piffaro, a singer, and a
violinist. Born in c. 1596, he was young in the 1620s, and its musical values left a very clear imprint on allof his later life.
He came from a family of musicians who were possibly of Paduan origin. Their collective skills were very
impressive and covered the prima and seconda prattiche with remarkable dexterity. Giacomo Rovetta,
Giovanni's father, was engaged as one of the doge's six piffari on 29.X.1605.20 From 24 December 1616 he
was additionally engaged as a singer.21 Vido Rovetta, the rector of Sant'Angelo in Padua, was engaged in
1615 to "serve in the organ lofts of San Marco in all the concerts that they give, as required by the Maestro

16

All three texts are compared in Appendix 2. Additional source details are given in Appendix 1.

17Bettley (pp. 49, 54) indicates that on Good Friday (as on Palm Sunday) the passion was sung by three choral groups. In the caseof Teodoro Clinio's Sacrae quatuor Christi Domini Passiones (1595) the division was made as follows: "Christ" (a 3), minor
characters collectively (a 4), and the crowd (i.e., turbae, a 5).
18

Schütz's passions of St. John (1665), St. Matthew (1666), and St. Luke (also 1666) were first performed near the end of Rovetta's
lifetime but may have been composed in the 1650s. A facsimile of the scores preserved in the Musikbibliothek der Stadr Leipzig
was published in 1981, with by commentary by Wolfram Steude (Leipzig: Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen
Republik). Some references to the performances are found in Gina Spagnoli (ed. and trans.), Letters and Dcouments of Heinrich
Schütz, 1656-1672: An Annotated Translation (University of Rochester Press, 1990), 77ff, 223.

19

At the church of San Silvestro.

20

A.S.V., Atti dei dogi. Cancelleria Inferiore, Reg. 78, f. 103v.

21

A.S.V., Atti dei dogi, Cancelleria Inferiore, Reg. 81, f. 5.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
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5

di Capella," 22 apparently to play the theorbo; he was dismissed, however, in 1617 for extended absence.23
Antonio Rovetta was hired as a miscellaneous instrumentalist24 on 30 April 1617.
One thing that distinguished the Rovetta family from the other musicians active at San Marco at the sametime was that its members were clearly and consistently associated with solo music for Christmas and Easterdating from the early years of the seventeenth century. From 1614 or earlier until his death in 1641 Giacomo
was regularly paid 12 ducats to play on each of these feasts; in both cases his services as a violinist wererendered as an incidental musician. He was the earliest musician known to have been employed in thiscapacity. It is possible that Giovanni substituted for his father when he was still very young. On 10
December 1615, an entry in the Procurators' ledger indicated the Giovanni was to play at Christmas. 25
Giovanni's association with the church of San Silvestro is especially suggestive of a leading role in thepresentation of instrumental music, for it was at San Silvestro that the instrumentalists' guild had met since
the thirteenth century. 26 A long association between Rovetta and the guild would seem to have been
inevitable.27 From the point of view of the development of instrumental practice, the violino (or its
forerunners) had been an occasional member of the piffaro group. Renaissance paintings show an occasionallira da braccio in combination with herald trumpets and other wind instruments, especially in depictions of
the coronation of the Virgin.
The development of a repertory for solo violin had barely begun when the practice of providing violin
solos at the Elevation of the Host was started at San Marco. It appears circumstantially to have owed
something to the presence of Monteverdi as maestro di cappella and to have offered the possibility ofinterjecting seconda prattica elements into the most joyous services of the church year.
This innovation preceded by just a few years the flowering of the solo motet in Venetian worship services.
Many San Marco musicians, even if scarcely known as composers, are represented in such anthologies as the
Ghirlanda sacra of 1626. Since there are no known exemplars of the violin solos for the Elevation, we canonly speculate as to their nature. The solo motets of the time were pietistic in the main and hauntingly
introspective. In the absence of better information, we might expect the violin solos to have been deeply
expressive in much the same manner.

22

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 141, f. 15v, entry of 11 aprile 1615: "Che m. pre. Vido Roveti Anciprete, et Rettor di S. Angelo
in Pad.va sia codotto per servir nelli organi di S. M.co in tutti li concerti, che si farano, come sarà ordinato dal Maestro di Capella, cosi
nelli giorni, ch venirà la Ser.ma Sig.ria in chiesa, come in tutti quelli altri giorni di solenità, c£' è solito farsi concerti, et in ogni altro
tempo stravagate, c£ secondo li accideti fosse ordinato, et si dovesse far concerti. . . . "23

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 8, Cassier Chiesa (1614-22), entry of 7 Settembre 1617. Flaminio Coradi was hired concurrently
as a singer who would also play the theorbo in the concerts in the lofts.

24

To judge from his salary of 15 ducats per annum Antonio would have been a violinist. Two works a 4 by him—"Ut queant laxis"and "Quo Sanctum Marcum"—are preserved in Marciana Cod. It. IV-1136 (=10965).
25
A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 8, Cassier Chiesa (1614-1622), entry of 10 Decembre 1615: "p Giac.o dal Violin dalla Cassa d.ti
dodese gr. 12 contadi a lui p sua prov. de nadal vend.o hebbeli Zuane suo fig.lo."26

For information on the guild, see E. Selfridge-Field, "Annotated Membership Lists of the Venetian Instrumentalists' Guild, 16721727," Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, No. 9 (1971), 1-52, and No. 12 (1974), 152-55.

27

In fact, it was just a year before Rovetta's death when the church decided that it could no longer accommodate the guild (A.S.V.,
Milizia da Mar, MS 168, entry of 20.VI.1667), but the request for them to quit probably was ignored. Leaders of the guild were also
noted instrumentalists at San Marco. Giovanni Battista Castello was gastoldo in 1622 (op. cit., cited in entry of 21.IV.1689) andAlessandro Fedeli occupied the same post in 1691 (entry of 4.VII.). At San Silvestro, the guild was responsible for maintaining thealtar of S. Maria della Pietà, which it still did in 1691 (loc. cit.). A complete listing of San Marco piffari is found in Eleanor
Selfridge-Field, La musica strumentale di Venezia da Gabrieli a Vivaldi (Turin: ERI, 1980).

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
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6

In his youth Rovetta also held appointments at the Ospedaletto and at the Mendicanti. At the first heserved as maestro di musica from 1635 to 1647. At the second he was listed only as a musico, and among
his duties he substituted for Carlo Fillago at the organ in 1639. It is noteworthy that although the use of
instruments other than the organ had been officially suppressed at the M endicanti in 1619, the governors
provided 100 ducats in 1639 for vestments and "violini boni da sonar in Coro." 28***
From the late sixteenth century through the early eighteenth, it was customary in Northern Italy for maestri
di cappella to have been trained as organists. Organists were versed in counterpoint and solfegge. They
upheld the rigorous standards of their trade and this was obviously deemed an essential foundation for thecomposition of music for choirs, whether performing in concert with instruments or a cappella. Piffari (otherthan piffari-violinists) normally remained piffari, and a large number of composers of instrumental music who
described themselves as violinists remained instrumentalists throughout their lives. In fact attention has beencalled to the nominal distinction between canzone and sonata as having been one of training. Ensemble
pieces composed by organists usually obeyed written rules and were called canzoni; those by ensemble
instrumentalists were usally freer in form and syntax; they were called sonate.29
This distinction helps to explain why Rovetta, when appointed vice maestro di cappella,30 felt extremely
reticent about his appointment. He was an ensemble instrumentalist. In the dedication (of 1 January 1626/7)
of his first publication, Salmi concertati, to Lelio Cereda, he explained:
I am lucky to be numbered among the fraternity of musicians of their Excellencies [the Procurators] of San Marco. . . . If the Maestro di Capella should be absent, I would . . . according to their new determination . . . function
as Vice Maestro. But this is an extravagant thing: in an instant I would have passed from the profession of
instrumentalist to that of composer and director of various kinds of music on diverse feasts; they have made thepoorly founded judgment that such kinds of ecclesiastical music could be composed by me.
Foreseeing that such opposition could in a short time make a bad impression among those to whom I am notknown, I thought it expedient to send to press these ecclesiastical songs . . . .

He goes on to attest that these really are his works, not those of anyone else, and that it should not seem so
odd that he should go overnight from being an instrumentalist to a composer, since Signor Striggio, Signore
Priuli, Signor Valentini,31 and "almost all the best school of composers have proceeded in this manner." After

28

Giuseppe Ellero et al., Arte e Musica all'Ospedaletto: Schede d'archivio sull'attività dei Derelitti e dei Mendicanti di Venezia (sec.
XVI-XVIII) (Venice: Stamperia di Venezia Editrice, 1978), pp. 177, 43, 157.

29

See E. Selfridge-Field, "Canzona and Sonata: Some Differences in Social Identity," International Review of the Aesthetics andSociology of Music, IX/1 (1978), 111-19, and "Genre and Instrumentation in Italian Music, 1600-1670," Early Music, XIX/1 (1991),
61-7.
30
Rovetta succeeded to the position of vice maestro di cappella at San Marco after the departure of Alessandro Grandi. This musthave occurred by March 1626, when Grandi was replaced in his additional position of maestro di canto. Rovetta's official election
was on 22 November 1627.
31This pantheon of august composers is strongly suggestive of a Mantuan cross-current, and it is important to realize that Monteverdi,
through his Mantuan ties, maintained close contact with the Viennese court. In 1622 Prince Ferdinand married Eleonora Gonzaga
of Mantua.
Giovanni Priuli (c.1575-1629), a Gabrieli pupil active in Graz and later Vienna, left the post of Hofkapellmiester in 1622, possibly

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7

all, he points out, there are in this service not only 30 or more singers but also 20 or more players of wind andstring instruments. If, therefore, virtuosi should find anything in his works not to their taste, they should
remember the constraints under which he has worked. 32 Rovetta claimed to play wind and string instruments"of every kind." He used both a fingered tremolo and a bowed tremolo in the four instrumental works thisfirst opus. Perhaps these techniques were used, even invented, by his father.
Rovetta's training as a priest inclined him to be very responsive, in the manner of the seconda prattica, tothe texts he set while remaining cognizant of the traditional trappings of the prima prattica. His first opus
demonstrates his contrapuntal skills, which included double-subject fugues and retrograde inversions ofsubjects. His string works venture, via what was later to be called the Circle of Fifths, to such keys as A
Major and E Major and set a standard for agility that was considerable for the time.
There is good evidence that Rovetta's service to San Marco was found to be highly satisfactory. 33 His pay
increase in 1642 must have been a response of sorts to the death of his father, Giacomo, in 1641. 34 As
violinist for high feasts, Giacomo was succeeded by Gio. Pietro Orcelli, who was granted regular employmenton the date of Rovetta's increase. As a piffaro Giacomo had been succeeded on 6 February 1642 by
Marc'Antonio Zorzi.
Rovetta was elected maestro di cappella, succeeding Monteverdi, with a salary of 300 ducats, on 21
February 1644. It was a great achievement for the piffaro who, less than two decades earlier, had doubted
his ability as a composer would be thought credible. Monteverdi's death ushered in a new kind of equally
dubious expectation—that Rovetta would wish to compose operas. Ercole in Lidia, his first and perhaps only
opera,35 was given in the spring of 1645.36 Rovetta was active as a theatre violinist, but in contrast to his San

to go to Mantua. Giovanni Valentini (1582 or 1583-29 to 30.IV.1649), another Gabrieli associate, had moved to Vienna in 1619,
when Ferdinand Gonzaga was elected Holy Roman Emporer and succeeded Priuli as Hofkapellmeister in 1622. He was a well-known
keyboard player and had worked for a time in Poland. Helmut Federhofer ("Giovanni Piruli," The New Grove Dictionary of Musicand Musicians, London: Macmillan, 1980, Vol. 15, p. 495) credits Valentini with having seen "the beginnings of the sepolcro andoratorio in Vienna, but only the texts he wrote for his own works in these genres survive." Valentini taught music to the childrenof Ferdinand II and remained Kapellmeister under Ferdinand III.
32

Complete Italian text in Claudio Sartori, Bibliografia della musica strumentale stampata a Venezia sino al 1700, 2 vols. (Florence:
Olschki, 1952 and 1968), I, 304-05.

33

As vice maestro, Rovetta enjoyed three pay increases. On 22.III.1635 he was given an increase from 120 to 160 ducats. On
28.III.1640 his pay was increased from 160 to 180 ducats. On 9.III.1642 he was granted an increase from 180 to 200 ducats.

34

In the census taken on 17.XII.1632 a "Rovetta" who may have been the composer was listed as a cittadino in the parish of San
Fantin. He headed a houshold that included two women, one male over 50, one male 18-50, and one male under 18. There was alsoa massere (A.S.V., Provveditori alla Sanità, Anagrafia 1633, Busta 568). In all probability the male over 50 was Giacomo Rovetta,
the male 18-50 was Giovanni Rovetta, and one of the women was Giovanni's sister Elena, the mother of Giovanni Battista Volpe.
In relation to Rovetta's nephew, it might be noted that among the Paduan musicians there was a Francesco Volpe, who sang tenor
at the Santo [the church of San Antonio in Padua] in 1617, 1624, and 1644 (Antonio Sartorio, Documenti per la storia della musica
al Santo e nel Veneto, ed. Elisa Grossato, with the intro. by Giulio Cattin [Vicenza: Neri Pozza Editore, 1977], p. 192). One apparent
effect of Giacomo's death is that in the census of 28.III.1642 Giovanni had moved from the parish of San Fantin to that ofSant'Angelo, where he (Giovanni Roeta) is listed as an artefice, with a household consisting of two women, one male 18-50, and one
male under 18, as well as one massere (A.S.V., Anagrafia 1642, Busta 571). Rovetta was frequently named "Roeta" in documentsof the time.

35

It is undetermined whether Volpe or Rovetta set the music for Argiope (1649). Volpe set the music for La costanza di Rosimonda(Venice 1659; Milan, 1675); Gli amore di Apollo e di Leucotoe (1663); and La Rosilena (1664).

36

An account of it is given in [John] Evelyn's Diary, ed. William Bray (London: George Routledge and Co., n.d.), pp. 137f [June1645]: "This night, having with my Lord [Thomas] Bruce taken our places before, we went to the Opera, where comedies and otherplays are represented in recitative music, by the most excellent musicians, vocal and instrumental, with a variety of scenes painted

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
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8

Marco predecessor, M onteverdi, and successor, Cavalli, he did not pursue an adjunct career in this field.
However, sacred and secular compositions flowed from his pen in great abundance.37
R OVETTA 'S M ANAGEMENT OF THE C APPELLA
Rovetta had acknowledged in the dedication of his Op. 1 his deep respect for the music of Giovanni
Valentini, the Hofkapellmeister in Vienna. When Valentini died, on 30 April 1649, the Imperial Palace
attempted to recruit Rovetta to succeed him, but Rovetta declined. 38 The Procurators rewarded his loyalty
with a pay rise from 300 to 400 ducats on 28 October 1649. This decision to remain at San Marco, where
he had already served for more than three decades, may have engendered an increased effort to emphasize
the special traditions of the ducal chapel, for it is from just this time onward that Rovetta concerned himself
with matters of detail that differentiate the practice of San Marco from that of other institutions. Rovetta also
enjoyed the special respect of the Procurators, for in later life he served as their Guardian.39 This was aceremonial position in which he stood at attention at the various places where the Procurators entered thebasilica.
In regular ranks, some 30 instrumentalists were hired during Rovetta's tenure as maestro. Of these, 17were string players.40 There were also 3 cornettists, 1 bassoonist, and 4 trombonists 41 —demonstrating
Rovetta's commitment to the winds and brasses that had so greatly distinguished the ceremonial music of thecappella in the earlier part of the century—and 5 theorbists.42
It seems to have been Rovetta's frequent practice to add musicians for Christmas and Easter services.
Among those specially mentioned were Iseppo Sardi,43 who was paid for having played the concert44 on

and contrived with no less art of perspective, and machines for flying in the air, and other wonderful notions; taken together, it is oneof the most magnificent and expensive diversions the wit of man can invent. The history was, Hercules in Lydia; the scenes changed
thirteen times. The famous voices, Anna Rencia, a Roman, and reputed the best treble of women; but there was an eunuch who, in
any opinion, surpassed her; also a Genoese that sung an incomparable bass. This held us by the eyes and ears till two in the morning,when we went to the Chetto de San Felice, to see the noblemen and their ladies at basset, a game at cards which is much used; they
the play not in public, and all that have inclination to it are in masquerade, without speaking one word, and so they come in, play,
lose or gain, and go away as they please. This time of license is only in Carnival and this Ascension week; neither are their theaters
open for that other magnificence, or for ordinary comedians, save on these solemnities, they being a frugal and wise people, and exact
observers of all sumptuary laws."
37

Rovetta's compositions were chiefly psalms (Opp. 1, 4, 7, 8, 12) and motets (Opp. 3, 5, 10, 11). A few masses are also found. He
is also widely represented in anthologies from 1620 to 1669. His Opp. 2, 6, and 9 contained madrigals. Several masses, motets,
Magnificats, and Salve Reginas other than those described herein are preserved in manuscripts outside Venice.
Rovetta's nephew, Giovanni Battista Volpe (sometimes called Rovettino) seems to have been involved in arranging both theoriginal publication of some of the later collections (e.g., Op. 9 in 1646 and Op. 10 in 1647) and republications with the Antwerp
house of Phalese (e.g., of Manipulus e messe musicus [Op. 10] and Bicinia sacra [Op. 3 duets] in 1648 and Gemma musicalis [thebalance of Op. 3] in 1649).

38

Reported by Helmut Federhofer in the New Grove entry on "Vienna" (Vol. 19, p. 717). Antonio Bertali was later appointed to the
post.
39

A.S.V., Reg. 146, f. 144, entry of 24. Ottobre 1668: "Che il Carico di Guardian di Procuratia vacato per la morte de Dno Zuannede Giacomo Roeta sia concesso per tutto il tempo della sua vita ad Antonio Piasciola . . . ."40

Among the most important appointments was that of the violone player Paolo Mancin in 1655.

41

The most notable trombonists having been Johann Rosenmüller, appointed in 1658, and Alessandro Fedeli, appointed in 1664.

42

Three of whom were hired in 1658 and 1659.

43

Possibly related to the music copyist Gio. Francesco Sarti.

44"sonato il Concerto".

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

9

Christmas Eve 1664 and at mass on the following day. 45 In 1665 three musicians were added for Christmas. 46
For Christmas services in 1667 new music was transcribed by Pre. Giovanni Gasparini, and Domenico Rossi
was paid for having played the violin in place of Carlo Ruggieri, who was ill.47 Theorbists may have been
employed in the accompaniment of solo vocal music.
Special payments for music during Holy Week also become especially noticeable around the time of thisViennese overture. In 1649, for example, there were special payments to the Coadiutori of the maestro dicoro for the processions of Good Friday, which happens in this year to have coincided with the feast of
Venice's patrons, SS. Theodore and Mark (3 piccioli), and to Pre. Zan Battista Facini (2 piccioli) for having
sung the passion on Palm Sunday and on Tuesday of Holy Week "in the usual manner" 48 . His fame was
growing: Alessandro Vincenti, in his preface to the Motetti Op. 11 (1650) called Rovetta "uno de' maestri più
sublimi" and praised his "melodie angeliche".
Recalling Federhofer's claim that Valentini was associated with the institution of the sepolcro and oratorio
in Vienna, it seems not at all unlikely that there was some contact between Rovetta and Vienna through which
he was inspired to recreate at San Marco what he first came to know abroad. Many musicians from Venicetravelled to Vienna in 1651 for the wedding of Ferdinand III. While there is no evidence that Rovetta wasamong them, his position should have made him first among equals. Another Holy Week document comesfrom the following year, 1652, when Rovetta was provided with 12 ducats 14 grossi to pay the musicians
hired to sing and play, according to the usual custom, at the Matins services of Holy Week.49 In 1668, it wasFrancesco Spada who sang the passion(s) during Holy Week.50 Rovetta engaged Ruggiero Fedeli to playvioloncello at the masses of Easter, St. Mark's, and Ascension, as well as at Vespers on the vigil of St.
Mark's.51 New music may have been performed, since Vittorio Costanzi was paid on the same date for having
written "diverse pages of music."
Despite his many printed works, Rovetta himself referred to "le compositioni dalle mie vigilie partorite,
di Hinni, Motetti, e Messe, che s'attrovano in manuscritti diversi al bisogno della Regia Capella di S. Marco"in the dedication of his Salmi Op. 12 (1662).
Rovetta requested in his will52 of 1667 that, upon his death, his Requiem Mass for two choirs "scritta a
Bologna" be performed with his motet [sic] "Ad Dominum cum tribularer" for memorial services both at San
Marco and at San Silvestro. 53 As he preordained that they should, these events took place shortly after his
death, which occurred on 23 October 1668.
T HE P OSTHUMOUS P ERFORMANCE OF R OVETTA 'S M USIC FOR H OLY W EEK

45

Cassier Chiesa, Reg. 15, entry of 7.I.1664/5.

46

Cassier Chiesa, Reg. 15, entry of 30.XII.1665.

47

Procuratia de Supra, Cassier Chiesa 1663-1674, Registro 15, entry of 29.Xbre.1667.

48

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 34, Scontro Chiesa (1648-58), entries of 27 Aprile 1649.

49

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 34, Scontro Chiesa (1648-58), entry of XV Aprile 1652.

50

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 15, Cassier Chiesa (1663-74), entry of 9 maggio 1668.

51

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 15, Cassier Chiesa (1663-74), entry of 15 maggio 1668.

52

A.S.V., Sezione Notarile, Atti Francesco Ciola, item of 16 Luglio 1667.

53

In fact he left the generous bequest of 1000 ducats so that these works might be sung "into perpetuity."E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

10

It is almost certainly the case that the fate of Rovetta's music for Holy Week after his death vacillated
somewhat from maestro to maestro and that, far from being an instant "canon", these works were subjected
to some vicissitudes on their way to representing the San Marco "tradition."
To start with, Rovetta's musical legacy was dual. There were, on the one hand, the intensely expressive
works of which there is so little direct evidence—the narrator's and Evangelist's roles in the passions and theviolin solos for the Elevation on Easter. On the other hand, there were the prima prattica works—represented
here by the mass, vespers, and Magnificat preserved in manuscript.
The Lamentations of Holy Week were accompanied, possibly from even before Rovetta's time, on theharpsichord. This practice is suggested in a document of 1615, when one musician from the cappella wasgiven a special stipend for having carried the "claviorgano" used in the Lamentations of Holy Week,
following the instruction of the maestro. 54 Even earlier, in 1607, a notary for Donato Ondelli, maker ofharpsichords from the parish of S. Lio, claimed the pay for three periods (May-October) for Paolo Giusto,55
suggesting that the San Marco organist was not unfamiliar with the harpsichord. In 1617 Bastian Romano
was paid 6 ducati 6 grossi for having sung the Lamentations during the three days [Wednesday-Friday] ofHoly Week. 56 Solo music at this time seems to have been reserved for the holiest of circumstances.
It may be significant evidence of Rovetta's interest in such use of the harpsichord that his nephew Giovanni
Battista Volpe was appointed "fourth" organist on 28 October 1645.57 Volpe became a noted authority on
the harpsichord. His expertise, contained in a lost treatise called Il prattico al cembalo, was acknowledged
by Francesco Gasparini in his treatise Il pratico armonico al cimbalo (1708).
Rovetta was very indulgent of Francesco Cavalli, going so far as to dedicate a volume of his Madrigali
concertati to the younger man in 1645. In his dedication of 10 June 1645, Volpe wrote, on behalf of Rovetta,that Cavalli's music possessed three virtues—the noble "dressing" of the subjects (i.e., texts), incomparable
singing, and celebrated "accuracy" 58 in instrumental accompaniment. These last two, he noted, were "living
treasures" incapable of printed representation.
It is not clear what the place of Rovetta's music was during Cavalli's tenure as maestro di cappella. Cavalli
seems to have been concerned both with increased ceremony and with preserving important works of the past.
One of his first reforms was to order the construction of a short staircase over the sacristy to facilitate themovement of the maestro, singers, and instrumentalists on those occasions when the doge mingled withworshippers on the main floor of the church. The musicians were to follow him from above, remaining in
the corridors attached to the organ lofts.59

54

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 8, Cassier Chiesa (1614-22), entry of 3 Zugno 1615: "p spese p . . . diversi sonatori et Cantori
pigliati di piu delli ordenarij che seruano in Capela . . . p uno d.10 gr.10 con lire 5 p haver portato lo Claui organo p tal servitio pseruire nelle lamentation della sett.a Santa . . . ." At that time, the playing of the instrument probably would have fallen to Gio.
Battista Grillo, another Gabrieli pupil and the "third" [portative] organist at the time. Monteverdi was the maestro di cappella.
55

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 139, Terminazioni (1598-1607), f. 185, entry of 7 maggio 1607.

56

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 8, Cassier Chiesa (1614-22), entry of 20 Zugno 1617.

57

Volpe substituted for Cavalli at one of the larger organs during Cavalli's stay in France (1660-62). In 1665 he became second
organist and in 1678 first organist. He died late in the year 1691. A lost volume of motets a 8 by him was published in 1649.
58
59"leggiadria accuratezza".

A.S.V., Reg. 146, f. 149v, entry of 17 Febraro 1668/9: "Apportando non lieve incomodo al Maestro di Capella, Musici, et Concertidella Chiesa di San Marco dover passar per tutto il corpo nelle solenità principali, et altri tempi quando particolarmente descende
Sua Serenità trà la multitudine delle genti concorrono il tali giorni per andar con luogo giro de corridori agl'organi superiori, che hàdato mottivo al detto Maestro supplicare l'Ecc.mo Proc.r Cassiere di qualche propria provissione per loro comune solevo; Che peròE LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

11

On 26 February 1671/2 Cavalli put in a claim for 34 lire to rebind a book containing a four-voice mass
as well as magnificats and motets, according to his request of 21 January.60 The composers of these works
are not identified. During the following August the priest Lorenzo Rossi61 was paid 84 ducati 14 grossi torecopy, on Cavalli's orders, two masses, four magnificats, and diverse motets for six voices on "imperial
paper," 48 sheets in all representing the works of present and past (but still unidentified) maestri di cappella,
and for having fixed the book of masses by Palestrina and the hymn of St. Mark.62
Clearer evidences of renewed interest in Rovetta's music, especially that for Holy Week, survive from thetenure of Natale Monferrato (1676-1685). In 1682 Monferrato ordered the copying of a mass, magnificat,
motets, and hymns specifically by Rovetta as well as a book of cantus firmus and two other hymns. The
payments were made to Gio. Francesco Sarti, the copyist mentioned in the Marciana copy of Item #4 (theturbe for the Passion according to St. Matthew), and the Carmelite Padre Pesaro.
It was also during the tenure of Monferrato that payments to the player of a spinetta during Holy Week
became commonplace. Starting with Volpe (1675), there followed Pietr'Andrea Ziani (1676), Giacomo Spada(1679, 1685), Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (1692), Antonio Lotti (1693, 1699), Benedetto Vinaccesi (1707),
and Domenico Maghini (1712).63 A even stronger link was forged during the tenure (1685-1690) of Giovanni
Legrenzi as maestro. In 1686 a provision was made regularly to tune the harpsichord used during Holy Week
and other extraordinary days.64 It was in the same year that a provision was also made to pay on an annual
basis the priest who sang the passion during Holy Week. It appears, however, that only the agreement to pay
for the service was new.65
Another new form of recognition was that accorded to the custodian who carried the cappella's books fromplace to place at Easter and Christmas. He was to be paid six ducats a year.66 A giovine de coro was to be
paid 1/2 ducat for the First Evangelio and 1 ducat for mass.67

portatosi V. E. alla visione de sitti col Rotto di questa Procuratia hà osservato loco addatato da potersi per hora stavilire una scaletta
molto aggiustata nella scalla, che và sopra la Sagrestia per salire nell'organo essistente in Cornù Evangelij d'essa Chiesa con l'impego
de ducati cento, e vinti in circa solamente.
60

A.S.V., Reg. 146, f. 165v, entry of 26 Febraro 1670/1.

61

In 1649 Lorenzo Rossi had been hired as an instrumentalist. He remained at San Marco at least through 1675.

62

A.S.V., Reg. 146, f. 170v, entry of 29 Agosto 1671: " . . . sia pagati cinque polize de ducati ottanta quatro grossi quatordese à P.
Lorenzo Rossi in sodisfatione delle ricopie fatte di due Messe, quatro Magnificat, et diversi Motteti à sei sopra carta imperial innumero de fogli quarantotto con notte quadrate composti dal presente, e passatti Maestri di Capella, et aggiustato in più lochi il librodelle Messe della Palestrina, et Hinno di San Marco il tutto à servitio della medesima, come nelle dette polize di Dmo Francesco
Caletto d.o Cavalli Meastro . . . ."63

See E. Selfridge-Field, La musica strumentale a Venezia da Gabrieli a Vivaldi, tr. Franco Salvatorelli (Turin: ERI, 1980), pp. 275f.

64
A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 147, f. 230r, entry of 6 Agosto 1686. " . . . sian pagati annualmente al Maestro tenerà
accommodata la Spinetta s'adopera la settimana santa, et altri giorni estraordinarii di servizio della medesima ducati doi compresola necessaria si si ricercasse per detto operazioni d'esso Mastro. . . . "65

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 147, f. 230r, entry of 6 Agosto 1686: ". . . hanno terminato, che de danari della Cassa della
Chiesa sian pagati d'anno in anno ducati doi al Sacerdote canterà il Passio la Settimana Santa giusto il solito praticarsi nelle solennitàd'essa Chiesa in loco di quello venivo corrisposto al d.o Sacerdote per simil occasione . . . ."66

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 147, f. 230v, entry to 6 Agosto 1686: " . . . de danari della Cassa della Chiesa siano dati al
Custode de libri della Capella Ducale ducati sei annualmente da Pasque et Natale per l'incombenze estraordinarie di portar li
medesimi in più loghi quando esce Sua Serenità per portarsi altrove alla Musica di varie Chiese in conformità della mente pubblica. . . ."
67

Loc. cit.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

12

Legrenzi is known to have dedicated Holy Week responses to the Procurators in 1689, for he was given
200 silver ducats for these works,68 but the pieces have never been located.
It is perhaps ironic that it was Rovetta's mass for Holy Thursday that remained in use the longest, for its
harmonic and metrical constraints give little idea of the progressive dimension of his music. Was it respected
for its particular mode of expression, or perhaps only for its brevity? 69 The 1680s were a time of supreme
cultural consciousness, as the interests of the Holy League came to dominate all else. Thus we might
countenance the idea that the official propriety of the prima prattica should be admired over the expressive
intensity of the seconda. But this need for correctness diminished, or at least was forgotten in the long, slow
slide into oblivion of Venetian culture in the eighteenth century.
* * *More problemmatic is the fact that the many skeins of performance and liturgical practice documented insurviving musical materials are difficult to untangle. Within the Marciana sources, the main diffeences arise
from a comparison of score and parts. In the parts, which are probably from the seicento, the text is set moresyllabically and, except for the continuo, with many more notes, especially in cadences, since many text
phrases are set repeatedly. The indepedent continuo has fewer figures and fewer note diminutions than thecontinuo part in the score. The Agnus Dei, which appears to have been followed by a Tantum ergo, set for
two tenors and bass, concludes with the phrase "Miserere nobis." 70
These parts give the outward appearance of predating the Marciana score, for the paper seems earlier andthe copying less polished. However, any comparison of musical content must suggest that if the score is later
than the parts in physical date, it nonetheless is copied from a sourece which predated the parts.
In theMarciana score, chromatic usage that is absent in the parts appears sporadically. Figuration of the continuo
is much fuller and is likely to reflect eighteenth-century practice. In fact, it is possible that the continuo partwas added to the score by a second scribe. There are some miscellaneous octave discrepancies, particularlyin the continuo and the bass voice of the entire final phrase of the Agnus Dei; the tenor range is matchedexactly. The retention in the last seven bars of this movement of the text "Dona nobis pacem" for what isrendered as "Miserere nobis" in the parts may simply owe to different understandings of performance: if theAgnus Dei was repeated, the "Dona nobis pacem" would be sung for the final iteration, with the "Miserere
mobis" in the preceding ones. In this score, the Agnus Dei is followed by a seven-bar "Deo gratias".

68

A.S.V., Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 147, f. 283v, entry ot 10 Luglio 1689: "Vedendosi sempre più infervorato il Maestro di Cappella
Legrenzi nel servizio della Capella Ducale di San Marco, et spiccano dalla Compositione Musicale de' Responsorii della Settimana
Santa da lui presentate, et dedicate all' Eccmi Proc.ri le sue virtuose commendabili applicazioni per il continuato decoroso servizio della
Capella stessa; perciò . . . siano impegati ducati doicento in argenti, o altro per regalo al detto Sig.r Maestro di Capella Legrenzi, cheservirà non solo à memoria del pubblico gradimento alle sue virtuose fatiche; ma anco per qualche ricompenso alle spese da lui fattenell' opera musicale sudetto."

69

Rovetta became concerned with the creation of shorter works in his last year. In his Op. 12 (1662), which was to be his final
printed collection, Rovetta specifically addressed "l'uso della Serenissima capella ducale di S. Marco." This opus contained Salmi
a 8 voci accommodati da cantarsi alla breue.
70

The parts for the Tantum ergo are distributed as follows: the Tenore primo (49 bars) is transcribed at the end of the alto part; theTenore secondo is appended to the tenor part; the first 24 bars of the bass part were laid out at the end of the Basso but the full partwith text is appended to the Organo. All three complete parts are followed by a 31-bar setting of Genitori genito, also for two tenors
and bass.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

13

The parts preserved in the Fondo Musicale della Cappella di San Marco 71 give some notion of how thevocal resources were changed and "rebalanced" at San Marco from epoch to epoch. Those that seem to derivefrom Rovetta's own time are 3 for tenore, 3 for basso, and one for violone. Nine additional partbooks in asecond hand provide for a choir of 19: 4 sopranos, 4 altos, 6 tenors, and 5 basses; the violone may have been
considered a substitute for one bass. A further set of parts (added before, but perhaps not much before, 1884)
supports two further singers on each part, thus in all 6 sopranos, 6 altos, 8 tenors, and 7 basses, plus violone.72
In contrast to the Marciana materials, the "Deo gratias" is included with these parts but is absent in thescore. The Agnus Dei of the score has been rebound in times sufficiently recent that a printed modulo similar
to that used for the past several decades to track use of manuscripts in the sala riservata of the Marciana
Library serves as an endpaper. 73 This rebinding could have occured to exclude the "Deo gratias", which is
not found here. Syllabification, octave selection, and continuo figuration all accord well with the Marcianascore. However, the text "Dona nobis pacem" is not present in the Agnus Dei.
It is possible that the earliest surviving source is the single folio (Cantus and Tenor) from the corale, which
may be speculatively dated as Lorenzo Rossi's copy of 1671. Brief though this fragment is, we see that thechromatic inflections, such as that on the second syllable of "Kyrie," were originally absent. It is through thecoincidence of details between this and the Marciana score that the latter may be presumed to be based ona source close in date.
***
It is possible that the ultimate benefactor of Rovetta's soloistic works for Holy Week was the Ospedaledella Pietà. There are many personal connections in the years immediately following the death of Legrenzi.
The priest Francesco Spada, who performed some of this music at San Marco, was given retirement on 1
August 1687 74 but is likely to have borne some relation to Giacomo Filippo Spada. The latter was not only
organist at San Marco concurrent with Volpe's tenure and Volpe's successor as organist (6 August 1690) but
also the maestro di musica at the Pietà from 1690 until his own death in 1704. He was followed by Volpe's
admirer Francesco Gasparini (1703-1713).
The proof is not in the names or the offices; it is in the music. The Pietà evolved a tradition in the earlyyears of the eighteenth century of providing elaborate cadenzas in vocal works that were performed during
Holy Week. In a forthcoming study, Faun Tanenbaum will look at possible connections between the seicento
practices of San Marco and the settecento practices of the Pietà.75***
Rovetta's music regularly receives less recognition than it deserves on account of a logical fallacy.
Historians of recent generations have identified opera as the preeminently important genre of the Venetian

71

Provisional copy for the now published catalogue of this collection was kindly made available by Francesco Passadore; actual
inspection of the music yielded much additional information, which is included in Appendix 1.
72

By that time a double bass.

73

The general rubric for the principal column to be completed by a propsective user reads "Motivi dell'avere e del dare."74

A.S.V. Procuratia de Supra, Reg. 147, f. 245v, entry of pmo Agosto 1687.

75

In the study-in-progress "Foundling Virtuose: Eighteenth-Century Vocal Cadenzas from the Repertory of the Pietà," examples aretaken from Lesson 1 for the Wednesday of Holy Week, from Lamentation 3 and Lesson 8 for Thursday, and from Lesson 6 and therole of Christ from a passion for Good Friday.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

14

seicento. Because his tenure as maestro di cappella at San Marco fell between those of the two most eminent
Venetian opera composers of the time, Monteverdi and Cavalli, it has been a facile deduction that Rovetta's
music must not have been very important because he did not involve himself much in the composition ofopera.
In fact, Rovetta is survived by roughly as much sacred music as Monteverdi and by somewhat more thanCavalli. He composed more fluently for instruments than either of these luminaries. He spanned moregracefully the chasm between the massive sounds and architectural grandeur of Gabrieli's polychoral music,
on the one hand, and the delicate effects of the trembling spirit in pietistic poetry and seconda prattica musicon the other. The shadow his music cast in ensuing decades was, within San Marco at least, longer than thatof Monteverdi and Cavalli. Indeed his music may have been heard by more doges than that of any other
Venetian composer. In all events, his mass and passions for Holy Week appear to be the only Venetian worksof their kind that survive from the seventeenth century and bear witness to a Venetian contribution to an
emerging genre—the oratorio—that came to be centrally important in settecento Venice.
It was not at San Marco but rather in the ospedali that the oratorio was to flourish. It may be partly on
account of the fact that the ospedali presented so much new music that they captured the audience for musicalinnovation. Responding to changing tastes, the loyalties of prestigious visitors to Venice shifted. It may bethat little new liturgical music was written for San Marco in the eighteenth century because no one any longer
looked to the Ducal Chapel for novelty. However, many works by Monferrato and a few by Legrenzi are
known to be lost. We cannot thus say wth certainty that Rovetta was the last of the cappella's composer tocreate a substantial body of music for Holy Week. The fact that scribes attended to his music so diligently
has contributed to its longevity. This suggests a high degree of recognition by contemporaries, which in itself
confers a well deserved authority.

Appendix 1.
Manuscripts of Sacred Vocal Music by Rovetta Preserved in Venice:
A Listing with Notes and Provisional Concordances
The contents of two codices, Cod. It. IV-1134 and Cod. It. IV-1135, in the Biblioteca Nazionale «Marciana»
have been taken as a foundation for this listing. Also accounted for are five sources in the Fondo Musicaledella Cappella di San Marco. For these sources, the number in the Rossi/Passadore catalogue is used becausesome shelfmarks were unavailable at this writing. These sources carry the following designations:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Marciana: Cod. It. IV-1134 (=10949)
Marciana: Cod. It. IV-1135 (=10964)
Marciana: Cod. It. IV-1838 (=11702)
Fondo San Marco: Cat. #1612
Fondo San Marco: Cat. #1613
Fondo San Marco: Cat. #1614
Fondo San Marco: Cat. #1905
Fondo San Marco: Cat. #1931

I have used my own numbering system for the works. Current fascicle numbers of sources (1994) are notedwhen available; these are sufficiently arbitrary that some have changed over the years (from 1967) during
which I have periodically looked at this repertory.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

15

Two issues complicate the few listings that exist elsewhere: (1) when two works are included in one fascicle,
the second is sometimes not mentioned; (2) incipits derived from the first entering voice will vary fromincipits based on the highest voice, giving the impression of multiple work among copies of the same works.
None of the works can be precisely dated. The works that mention dates are not original copies. All theworks listed are attributed to Rovetta in at least one source.
There are two main hands in the Marciana holdings, but scribal subjects merit separate consideration.
Inconsistencies within sources—between notes and text underlay, or between title-page and music, or
between most elements and some refinements for performance (such as basso continuo figuration andinstrumental designations)—are more difficult to reconcile than differences between them.
#1. Requiem Mass.
S OURCE A, F ASC . 3/1. Missa pro defunctis octo vocibus Ioannis Roetta 1655. 20 ff. Contains thefollowing sections: Requiem eternam (ff. 5-7); Te decet hymnus (ff. 3 v-5); Requiem eternam (ff. 5-7);
Kyrie (ff. 7 v-10); Dies irae (ff. 10 v-13 v); Recordare (ff. 14-17 v); Oro supplex (ff. 17 v-20 v). In addition
to parts for two SATB choirs, an unfigured continuo for violoni is included in the score. This work is
in C| and predominantly in C Major. Listed as Item 2 in the printed Marciana catalogue.76
S OURCE E, B USTA 770. Score from the nineteenth century for double choir (SATB, SATB). 24 parts
accumulated from diverse eras (5 S, 5 A, 7 T, 5 B, Violone; Dies irae solo for alto).

#2. Missa Brevis [for Holy (Maundy) Thursday].
S OURCE A, F ASC . 1. Messa a cappella a quattro voci del M:ro D:o Giovanni Rovetta M aestro nella
Ducale Basilica di S. Marco. Morì li 23. 8bre 1668. 20 ff (including 2 blank sides). Also appearing on
the title page is the inscription "In breviate, et solertia nihil possit ultra." A heavily figured continuo
part, apparently for organ, is given in addition to the four voices (SATB). Listed as Item 3 in the printed
Marciana catalogue. This work is in C| and is predominantly in D Minor. It ends with a Deo gratias. A
note at the end of the mass (f. 10 r) reads,
Questa Messa si cantava il Giovedì Santo al Tempo della Veneta Repubblica, cioè sino
all'Anno 1797. Si cantava pure il Giorno di S. Nicolò li 6 dicembre nell'Oratorio posto alatere della Scala de' Giganti in presenza del Serenissimo Doge, e del minore Collegio.
The part of the Credo appearing on ff. 5 r-6 v has been inserted on different paper, but the handwriting,including that of the Deo gratias is integral throughout, indicating that at the time this copy was made themass may have been performed on Saturday, as well as Thursday, of Holy Week.
S OURCE A, F ASC . 2. Messa breve a 4 voci del maestro Rovetta. 8 ff (2 blank sides). For STTB andOrgano. Probably copies in the nineteenth century. Listed as Item 1 in the printed Marciana catalogue.

76

The "printed Marciana catalogue" refers to Carlo Frati and A. Segarizzi, Catalogo dei codici marciani italiani a cura delladirezione della R. Biblioteca Nazionale di S. Marco in Venezia. 2 vols. (Modena: G. Ferraguti & C. Editori, 1909-1911). The entire
corpus is listed in some summary fashion in the Classe IV manuscript catalogue in the Sala Riservata.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

16

S OURCE A, MISCELLANEOUS PARTS . Messa di cappella. Soprano, Tenore Primo, Tenore Secondo, Basso,
Organo. The Soprano and Tenore Primo are headed "Messa di Cappella", while the remaining parts, ina new hand, are labelled "Messa da Cappella piena e breve a 4:o "S OURCE D, B USTA 788. Score from the nineteenth century for SATB. Carries the same note, on f. 1, as
does Source A, followed by three signatures ("Canal Cav. Lor. Pret.", "Coccon Nicolò", and "Ballarin D.
Jacopo") and the stamp of the diocesan commission "S. Cecilia". 28 parts accumulated from diverse eras
(6 S, 6 A, 8 T, 7 B, Violone).
S OURCE H, UNNUMBERED FRAGMENT . MISSA BREVIS QVATVOR VOCIB: S ROVETTA. 1 folio only,
containing the title and initial portions of the CANTUS and TENORE on the observe. Oversize material(49 x 36 cm) in quadratic notation, which may suggest that the corale from which it survives was the one
copied in 1671 by Lorenzo Rossi.
#3. Magnificat
S OURCE A, F ASC . 6. Magnificat a 4 e 5 voci del Sig: re Io: Batta Rovetta Maestro nella Ducale Basilica
di S. Marco. 8 ff. Said to be scored for four voices (SATB) and organ continuo, but there but the staff
reserved for "organum" is blank; an independent part may once have existed. The score is set in C| andis predominantly in the key of F Major. An initial instruction says "Canto piano." [Possibly copied in
1682.]S OURCE A, F ASC . 5. Magnificat quatuor et cinque vocibus concinatus auctore G. B. Rovetta Ducalis
Basilica S. Marci Venetiarum Musices Moderatore. 8 ff (2 blank sides). Scored as above. Not listed in
the printed Marciana catalogue.

#4a. St. Matthew Passion ("Non in die festo")—Short version
S OURCE A, F ASC . 8/1. Turbe a IV Voci per la Domenica delle Palme [e pel Venerdì Santo] di Giovanni
Rovetta fu maestro della Capella di S. Marco in Venetian dal 1643 al 1668. Esistono in un Corale della
Chiesa di S. Mosè copiate da Gianfrancesco de Sarti. [The bracketed words may be a laterinterpolation.] This is Item #4 in the printed Marciana catalogue.
These Turbe for Palm Sunday occupy 11 pages and contain 20 passages set for four voices (SATB). Thispassion is based on the Gospel of St. Matthew XXVI: 36-75; XXVII: 1-60. The relationship of its text
to that set out in the Liber usualis is complex: 16 items coincide; 4 are unique to this source; 16 foundin the Liber are not set [see Appendix 2].

#4b. St. Matthew Passion ("Non in die festo")—Long version
S OURCE A, F ASC . 7. Turbe per la Domenica delle Palme a Quattro voci del M:ro Sig:r Giovanni Rovetta.
22 pp. 41 phrases set for four voices (SATB). Ten of these are not found in the Liber. This source is
not listed in the printed Marciana catalogue.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

17

S OURCE G/1 (=Busta 786, pp. 1-26). [Turbe della domenica delle palme.] SATB score of 26 pp. 41
phrases. 30 parts (10 S, 8 A, 5 T, 3 B, 4 Bassi) from the nineteenth-century. According to the
Rossi/Passadore catalogue the following solos are included: Una donna (A), Pilato (T), Caifa (T), Un
apostolo (T), Una falso teste (T), Pietro (Br), Un also teste (Br), Giuda (B).

#4c. St. Matthew Passion ("Non in die festo")—Variant long version
S OURCE C. Turbe3. 41 phrases set for three voices (TTB). The text is the same as that of Source A, but
the music is substantially different.

#5. St. John Passion ("Jesum Nazarenum")
S OURCE A, F ASC . 8/2. The Turbe pel Venerdì Santo occupy 9 ff and contain 14 phrases set for four
voices (SATB). This passion is based on the Gospel of St. John, XVIII: 1-40; XIX: 1-42. The numberof text phrases found in the Liber usualis (32) has been severely reduced [see Appendix 2]. This is Item
5 in the printed Marciana catalogue.
S OURCE G/2 (=Busta 786, pp. 27-47). [Turbe del venerdì santo]. SATB setting of 34 phrases. 23 parts(10 S, 8 A, 2 T, 1 B, 2 Bassi) from the nineteenth century. In this setting all items from the Liber usualis
are set and in fact there are two additional texts: "Quid est veritas," following "Ergo Rex," and "Ecce Rex
vester," following "Si nunc dimittis." There are also solo parts for Una donna (A), Un servo (T), andPietro (B).

#6. Ad Dominum cum tribularer [Psalm 119]
S OURCE A, F ASC . 3/2, ff. 12r -20 r . [No title.] Set for two SATB choirs and [strumenti] Bassi. Intended tobe performed, according to Rovetta's will, with his Requiem Mass. It properly belongs with the Vespers
for the Office for the Dead. It also forms part of the modern liturgy for Vespers on Holy Saturday.

#7. Beata viscera Mariae Verginis [motet]
S OURCE B, I, ff. 1 r-3 r . Ioanne Ruetta. Anno 1655. SATB. Organo on loose sheet labelled "Organo
Beato." Listed in the printed Marciana catalogue with the date 1633.77
S OURCE F, B USTA 787, N O . 1. SATB. Copied in 1891 for an "historical concert" of the Schola Cantorum.
To be performed "dopo l'Epistola."#8. Corona aurea [motet]
S OURCE B, III, ff. 6 r-8 r. [No attribution.] SATB. Organo part missing.

77

Although the handwriting is somewhat ambiguous, I believe that 1655 is the correct reading.

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

18

S OURCE F, B USTA 787, N O . 3. SATB. Copied in 1891 for an "historical concert" of the Schola Cantorum.

#9. Genitori genito [motet]
S OURCE A, MISCELLANEOUS PARTS , following those for Tantum ergo [#9], f. 2 v. Parts for Tenore Primo,
Tenore Secondo, Basso.

#10. Sancta et immaculata virginitas [motet]
S OURCE B, II, ff. 3 v -5 v . [No attribution.] SATB. Organo on loose sheet labelled "Sancta" and saved withthat of "Beata". Not listed in the printed Marciana catalogue.
S OURCE F, B USTA 787, N O . 2. SATB. Copied in 1891 for an "historical concert" of the Schola Cantorum.
To be performed "all'Offertorio."#11. Tantum ergo sacramentum [motet]
S OURCE A, MISCELLANEOUS PARTS appended to those cited under Messa di cappella [#2], f. 2 v. Parts forTenore Primo, Tenore Secondo, Basso. The hand is different from that of the preceding mass.

#12. Domine Jesu Christe [Offertory of Requiem Mass]S OURCE A, F ASC . 4. [No title-page or attribution.] 4 ff. SSAABB and Contrabassi. Perhaps acomplement to the Rovetta's Requiem (#1), although the scoring is different. The paper of the two
fascicles is possibly the same but the staff-ruling is different.

#12. Sanctus [from Requiem Mass?]
S OURCE A, UNNUMBERED FASCICLE [No title-page or attribution.] 20 ff. Scored for double choir (SATB,
SATB) and Bassi, but it is no longer present in this source. The scoring suggests the possibility that thispiece belonged to the Requiem, although again the staff-ruling is different from that of the fascicles
containing the mass and the Domine Jesu Christe. Not listed in the printed Marciana catalogue.

Some of the motets are obviously for Marian feasts.
Other items in Venetian manuscripts:
Rossi and Passadore report a speculation (pp. 1486f of their catalogue) that a Missa feriae quintae
sexagesimae found in the corale listed as #1932 and two hymns in the corale listed as #1933 may be by
Rovetta. Both sources are from the eighteenth century.

19

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

Seven antiphons and three hymns by Rovetta appear in the Fondazione Levi MS CF.B.109. These are
enumerated in Franco Rossi's La Fondazione Levi di Venezia: Catalogo del fondo musicale (Venice:Fondazione Levi, 1986), p. 112. One hymn and six of the antiphons are for Vespers for the dedication ofa church. The conspicuous church dedication in Venice during Rovetta's lifetime was that of the Salute.

Appendix 2.
Texts of Rovetta's Turbe#4a. Turbe per la Domenica delle Palme. 20 phrases set for four voices (SATB). All phrases are set in cut time (C| )and most cadence to C Major; G Major, F Major, and E Minor are also used. This passion is based on the Gospel of St.
Matthew Book XXVI: 36-75; Book XXVII: 1-60.
Cf. Liber usualis, pp. 599ff.

Texts given in the Liber usualis

Texts set in Rovetta Source A, Fasc. 8/1
1. Non in die festo ne forte tumultus fieret in
populo.

G

2. Ut quid perditio haec potuit enim unguentum
istud vemundari multo et dari pauparibus.

C

3. Ubi visparemus tibi comedere Pascha?

G

4. Numquid ego sum Domine?
Quemcumque osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum.
Ave, Rabbi.
5. Hic dixit: Possum destruere templum Dei, et in
triduo reaedificare illud.
C

Hic dixit: Possum destruere templum Dei, et post
triduum reaedificare illud.
Nihil respondes ad ea, quae isti adversum tetestificantur?
Adjuro te per Deum vivum, ut dicas nobis, si tu es
Christus Filius Dei.
Blasphemavit: quid adhuc egemus testibus? Eccenunc audistis blasphemiam: quid vobis videtur?

6. Reus est morto.

F

7. Prophetiza nobis, Christe, quis est qui tepercussit?

C

Reus est mortis.
Prophetiza nobis, Christe, quis est qui te percussit?

Et tu cum Jesum Galilaeo eras.
Nescio quid dicis.
Et hic erat cum Jesu Nazareno.

20

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

8. Vere tu ex illis es: nam et loquela tua manifestum
te facit.
G

Vere et tu ex illis es: nam et loquela tua manifestum
te facit.
Peccavi; tradens sanguinem justum.

9. Quid ad nos? Tu videris.

C

10. Non licet eos mittere in corbonam: quia pretium
sanguinis est.
eQuid ad nos? Tu videris.
Non licet eos mittere in corbonam: quia pretium
sanguinis est.
Tu es Rex Judaeorum?
Non audis quanta adversum te dicunt testimonia?
Quem vultis dimmitam vobis: Barabbam, an Jesum,qui dicitur Christus?
Nihil tibi et justo illi: multa enim passa sum hodie
per visum propter eum.
Quem vultis vobis de duobus dimitti?

11. Barrabam.

F

Barrabam.
Quid igitur faciam de Jesu, qui dicitur Christus?

12. Crucifigatur.

e

13. Crucifigatur.

G

Crucifigatur.

Innocens ego sum a sanguine justi hujus: vos
videritis.
14. Sanguis ejus super nos, et super filios nostros. C

Sanguis ejus super nos, et super filios nostros.

15. Ave, Rex Judaeorum.

Ave, Rex Judaeorum.

C

16. Vah, qui destruis templum Dei, et in triduo illud
reaedificas illud: salva temetipsum. Si Filius Dei es,
descende de cruce.
CVah, qui destruis templum Dei, et in triduo illud
reaedificas: salva temetipsum. Si Filius Dei es,
descende de cruce.

17. Alios salvos fecit, seipsum non potest salvum
facere: si Rex Israel est, descendat nunc de cruce, etcredimus ei: confidit in Deo: liberet eum nunc si
vult; dixit enim: Quia Filius Dei sum.
G

Alios salvos fecit, seipsum non potest salvum facere:sid Rex Israel est, descendat nunc de cruce, etcredimus ei: confidit in Deo: liberet nunc, si vulteum; dixit enim: Quia Filius Dei sum.

18. Eliam vocat iste.

G

Eliam vocat iste.

19. Sine, videamus en veniat Elias liberans eum.

G

Sine, videamus en veniat Elias liberans eum.

20. Vere, vere Filius Dei erat iste.

C

Vere Filius Dei erat iste.

21

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

#4b. Turbe per la Domenica delle Palme a Quattro voci del M : ro Giovanni Rovetta. 41 phrases set for four voices(SATB). All phrases are set in cut time (C| ). C Major is the predominant tonality; cadences are also made on (indeclining order of frequency) G Major, F Major, and E M inor. This passion is based on the Gospel of St. Matthew Book
XXVI: 36-75; Book XXVII: 1-60. Underlined words vary between sources.
Texts given in the Liber usualis

Texts set in Rovetta Source A, Fasc. 7
1. Non in die festo ne forte tumultus fieret in
populo.

G

2. Ut quid perditio haec potuit enim unguentum
istud vemundari multo et dari pauparibus.

C

3. Quid vultis usibi dare et ego eum vobis tradam. C
4. Ubi visparemus tibi comedere Pascha.

C

5. Numquid ego sum Domine.

G

6. Numquid ego sum Rabbi?

G

7. Et si omnes scandalizati fuerint in te, ego
numquam scandalizabor.

G

8. Etiam si oportuerit me mori teum morte vegabo. G
9. Quemcumque osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete
eum.

F

Quemcumque osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum.

10. Ave, Rabbi.

G

Ave, Rabbi.

11. Hic dixit: Possum destruere templum Dei, etpost triduum reaedificare illud. [in triduo waschanged in the soprano part to post triduum]Hic dixit: Possum destruere templum Dei, et post
triduum reaedificare illud.
C

12. Nihil respondes ad ea, quae isti adversum tetestificantur?

G

Nihil respondes ad ea, quae isti adversum tetestificantur?

13. Adiuro, adiuro te per Deum vivum, ut dicas
nobis, si tu es Christus Filius Dei.

C

Adjuro te per Deum vivum, ut dicas nobis, si tu es
Christus Filius Dei.

14. Blasphemavit? quid ad huc egemus testibus?
Ecce nunc audistis blasphemiam: quid vobis
videtur?

Blasphemavit: quid adhuc egemus testibus? Eccenunc audistis blasphemiam: quid vobis videtur?
d15. Reus est mortis.

F

16. Prophetiza nobis, Christe, quis est qui tepercussit.

C

17. Et tu cum Jesum Galilaeo eras?

G

Et tu cum Jesum Galilaeo eras.

18. Nescio quid dicis.

F

Nescio quid dicis.

19. Et hic erat cum Jesu Nazareno.

G

Et hic erat cum Jesu Nazareno.

Reus est mortis.
Prophetiza nobis, Christe, quis est qui te percussit?

22

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

20. Vere et tu ex illis es: nam et loquela tua
manifestum te facit.

G

Vere et tu ex illis es: nam et loquela tua manifestum
te facit.

21. Peccavi; tradens sanguinem justum.

G

Peccavi; tradens sanguinem justum.

22. Quid ad nos? Tu videris.

C

Quid ad nos? Tu videris.

23. Non licet eos mittere in corbonam: quia pretium
sanguinis est.
eNon licet eos mittere in corbonam: quia pretium
sanguinis est.

24. Tu es Rex Judaeorum.

eTu es Rex Judaeorum?

25. Non audis quanta adversum te dicunt
testimonia?

G

26. Quem vultis dimmitam vobis: Barabbam, an
Jesum, qui dicitur Christus?

C

Quem vultis dimmitam vobis: Barabbam, an Jesum,qui dicitur Christus?

27. Nihil tibi et justo illi: multa enim passa sum
hodie per visum propter eum.

G

Nihil tibi et justo illi: multa enim passa sum hodie
per visum propter eum.

28. Quem vultis vobis de duobus dimitti?

C

Quem vultis vobis de duobus dimitti?

29. Barabbam.

F

Barrabam.

Non audis quanta adversum te dicunt testimonia?

30. Quid igitur faciam de Jesu, qui dicitur Christus?C

Quid igitur faciam de Jesu, qui dicitur Christus?

31. Crucifigatur, crucifigatur.

e

Crucifigatur.

32. Quid enim mali fecit?

G

33. Crucifigatur, crucifigatur.

e

34. Innocens ego sum a sanguine justi hujus: vos
videritis.

C

Innocens ego sum a sanguine justi hujus: vos
videritis.

35. Sanguis ejus super nos, et super filios nostros. G

Sanguis ejus super nos, et super filios nostros.

36. Ave, Rex Judaeorum.

Ave, Rex Judaeorum.

G

37. Vah, qui destruis templum Dei, et in triduo illud
reaedificas [changed from reaedificas illud]: salva
temetipsum. Si Filius Dei es, descende de cruce. G

Vah, qui destruis templum Dei, et in triduo illud
reaedificas: salva temetipsum. Si Filius Dei es,
descende de cruce.

38. Alios salvos fecit, seipsum non potest salvum
facere: si Rex Israel est, descendat nunc de cruce, etcredimus ei: confidit in Deo: liberet nunc si vulteum; dixit enim: Quia Filius Dei sum.
C

Alios salvos fecit, seipsum non potest salvum facere:sid Rex Israel est, descendat nunc de cruce, etcredimus ei: confidit in Deo: liberet nunc, si vulteum; dixit enim: Quia Filius Dei sum.

39. Heliam vocat iste.

G

Eliam vocat iste.

40. Sine, videamus en veniat Elias liberans eum.

G

Sine, videamus en veniat Elias liberans eum.

41. Vere, vere Filius Dei erat iste.

C

Vere Filius Dei erat iste.

23

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

#5. Turbe pel Venerdì Santo. 7 pp. 14 phrases set for four voices (SATB). All phrases are set in cut time (C| ) and mostcadence to C M ajor; some cadence to G Major and one to E Minor. This Passion is based on the Gospel of St. John
Book XVIII: 1-40; Book XIX: 1-42; cf. the Liber usualis, p. 729.
Texts given in the Liber usualis

Texts set in Rovetta Source A, Fasc. 8/2
1. Jesum Nazarenum.

G

Jesum Nazarenum.

2. Jesum Nazarenum.

C

Jesum Nazarenum.
Numquid et tu ex discipulis es hominis istius.
Non sum.
Sic respondes pontifici?

3. Numquid et tu ex discipulis ejus es?

C

Numquid et tu ex discipulis ejus es?
Non sum.
Nonne ego te vidi in horto cum illo?
Quam accusationem affertis adversus hominem hunc?

4. Si non esset hic malefactor, non tibi tradidissemus
eum.
C

Si non esset hic malefactor, non tibi tradidissemus
eum.
Accipite eum vos, et secundum legem vestram judicate
eum.

5. Nobis non licet interficere quemquam.

C

Nobis non licet interficere quemquam.
Tu es Rex Judaeorum?
Numquid ego Judaeus sum? Gens tua et pontifices
tradiderunt te mihi: quid fecisti?
Ergo Rex es tu?
Ego nullam invenio in eo causam. Est autem
consuetudo vobis in Pascha: vultis ergo dimittam vobis
Regem Judaeorum?

6. Non hunc, sed Barabbam.

G

Non hunc, sed Barabbam.

7. Ave, Rex Judaeorum.

C

Ave, Rex Judaeorum.
Ecce adduco vobis eum foras, ut cognoscatis, quia
nullam invenio in eo causam.
Ecce homo.

8. Crucifige, crucifige eum.

eCrucifige, crucifige eum.
Accipite eum vos, et crucifigite: ego enum non invenio
in eo causam.

24

E LEANOR S ELFRIDGE-F IELD : “ Rovetta’s M usic for H oly W eek” (1994),
La Basilica di San M arco nell’età m oderna (Venice, 1998), 401-441.

9. Nos legem habemus, et secundum legem debet mori,quia Filium Dei se fecit.
C

Nos legem habemus, et secundum legem debet mori,quia Filium Dei se fecit.
Unde es tu?
Mihi non loqueris? nescis quia potestatem habeo
crucifigere te, et potestatem habeo dimittere te?

10. Si hunc dimittis, non es amicus Caesaris. Omnis
enim, qui se regem fecit contradicit Caesarii.
GSi hunc dimittis, non es amicus Caesaris. Omnis enim,
qui se regem facit contradicit Caesarii.

11. Tolle, tolle, crucifige crucifige crucifige crucifige
eum.
C

Tolle, tolle, crucifige eum.

Regem vestrum crucifigam?
12. Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem.

G

Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem.

13. Noli scribere, Rex Judaeorum.

C

Noli scribere, Rex Judaeorum, sed quia ipse dixit: Rex
sum Judaeorum.
Quod scripsi, scripsi.

14. Non scindamus eam, sed sortiamur de illa cujus sitC.

Non scindamus eam, sed sortiamur de illa cujus sit.