Ospedale della Pieta

Like the other Venetian Ospedali, Pieta was created as a hotel for the crusaders , near . After the Crusades ended , Ospedale della Pieta gradually turned into a charity shelter for orphans, mostly abandoned girls.

In the XVII century, all four operating Ospedal gradually became venues for the performance of sacred music by girls' choirs. Formal rules for the training of choristers were carefully developed and periodically reviewed. Many of the concerts were given for important visitors. So the convent and the orphanage at the same time become a music school, which has produced many virtuosos, and at least two composers - and . Success in music could change girls' lives for the better. Compared to ordinary pupils, choristers enjoyed greater freedom, as well as generous gifts from fans, vacations in villas on mainland Italy, and some marriages. In these cases, the institution provided the future bride with a small dowry. It is not surprising that over time, in Ospedal della Pieta, they began to give the illegitimate daughters of the Venetian nobility, and even children born in a legal marriage, in the hope that they would receive a good education.

Each of the four ospedals had its own orchestra, from thirty to forty musicians, exclusively women (the La Pieta orchestra numbered sixty people). Orchestras competed with each other, hiring the best musicians in the city and attracting the best masters of musical instruments. Ospedale artisan suppliers received the right to be called liuter del loco and received guaranteed steady income, since they not only supplied instruments for the whole orchestra, but also served them in the future.

In 1703, the composer Antonio Vivaldi was appointed a teacher of the violin game, ^[1] who served in the school until 1715 , and again from 1723 to 1740 , teaching girls to play the violin and singing, and was also the head of the orchestra and composer. Most of Vivaldi’s spiritual vocal and instrumental music was written for performance in La Pieta.

The Ospedale della Pieta Conservatory lasted until approximately 1830, while the other three completely curtailed their musical activities at the beginning of the 19th century .

Currently, the Ospedale della Pieta building is located in the Metropole Hotel and Restaurant Complex. Nearby is the Cathedral of Santa Maria della Pietà , whose construction was completed in 1761, 20 years after the death of Antonio Vivaldi. The facade of the church was completed only at the beginning of the 20th century. In the back of the building complex behind the church, there is still an early childhood education center. Most of this complex was donated to Ospedal in 1720, which allowed her to expand her activities.

List of composers who held positions in Ospedal della Pieta:

• Jane L. Baldauf-Berdes: Women Musicians of Venice. Musical Foundations, 1525-1855 . Rev. ed. Oxford 1996 ; ISBN 0-19-816604-4 (English)
• Fernyhough, Clare . Revealed: Vivaldi's life with a whole orchestra of women , Independent on Sunday (UK national title) (February 12, 2006), p. 32. Date of treatment September 19, 2010. (eng.)
• André Romijn. Hidden Harmonies: The Secret Life of Antonio Vivaldi (2008); ISBN 978-0-9554100-1-7 (English)
• Eleanor Selfridge-Field. A New Chronology of Venetian Opera and Related Genres, 1660-1760 (2007); ISBN 978-0-8047-4437-9 (English)
• E. Selfridge-Field. Venetian Instrumental Music from Gabrieli to Vivaldi , 3rd rev. edn., 1994; ISBN 0-486-28151-5 (English)
• E. Selfridge-Field. Pallade Veneta: Writings on Music in Venetian Society, 1650-1750 . Venice (1985); ISBN 9788875520069 (English)
• Vivaldi's Violins: the Accounts of Ospedale della Pietà ; retrieved February 20, 2006; archived from the original on 2006-12-05

• Official site (Italian)