La Chiesa e la Parrocchia di San Giacomo dall’Orio: una trama millenaria di arte e fede (Chiese di Venezia. Nuove prospettive di ricerca, 6), a cura di M. Bisson, I. Cecchini, D. Howard, Viella, Roma, 2018
Over the centuries the spatial arrangement of the interior of the church of San Giacomo has under... more Over the centuries the spatial arrangement of the interior of the church of San Giacomo has undergone modifications, mainly affecting the presbytery, the choir for the clergy, and the organ, all of which were essential elements for the daily liturgical life of a collegiate church. The dimensions and decoration of the first documented organ, recorded in the mid-fifteenth century, resembled those of other high-prestige instruments in the city. Its location is not specified, but the architectural context suggests it formed part of an integrated spatial complex consisting of the presbytery, the late medieval choir and the organ. The position of the organ remained unchanged when it was rebuilt in the first half of the Cinquecento, but in the middle of the century the new instrument was transferred to the present wooden organ loft on the entrance wall of the church. This classical-style gallery, since modified and denuded of some painted elements, formed part of the overall modernisation and unification of the nave.
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The historical period that I took into consideration (the two centuries between the beginning of the 15th and the early decades of the 17th) was a golden age for the Venetian organ; the instrument roused both curiosity in common people (citizens and travellers) and remarkable suggestions in cul-tured men. Some of these, such as Gioseffo Zarlino (one of the most important Venetian composers, Kapellmeister of the Ducal chapel and music theorist) and Girolamo Diruta (organist, composer and author of one of the most important musical treatises of the Renaissance), described the organ as «a wonderful machine comparable to a living creature».
The loss of these “marvellous machines” prevents us today from understanding their importance and artistic value; only a few organ cases with their balconies are now surviving almost intact. Numerous works that decorated the organ doors or the parapets (painted by artists such as Giovanni Bellini, Sebastiano del Piombo, Tintoretto, Francesco Vecellio, Paolo Veronese, Palma il Giovane) have become mural paintings inside many Venetian churches, or part of museum and private collections.
The book – by means of archival documents, published sources, and more than 400 bibliographi-cal references – reconstructs the artistic and cultural context that gave the organ the significance of an architectural and pictorial monument, whose function and liturgical role were similar to that of an al-tar. It is composed of four introductory chapters (1. The organ in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages; 2. The Venetian organ between the 15th and 17th century; 3. The Venetian organ and the trea-tises; 4. The organs of the basilica of Saint Mark) and a catalogue that contains eighty essays, each dedicated to a different church, with a reconstruction of the architectural context of the buildings, the position of the Renaissance instruments (e. g. the tradition of placing monastic and chapter choirs in the middle of the nave, or above raised structures over the main door of the church, required in fact particular locations for the organs) and their original decorations.
All of information collected allows us to better understand the liturgical and musical functionality of the Venetian churches between the 15th century and the beginning of the 17th, and to comprehend the social and the historical reasons that led to radical changes in the following centuries.
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The same criteria were observed for the project of the new church of San Nicolò del Lido, probably designed by the venetian architect Francesco Contin: the plan of both the choir and the chancel is indeed almost identical to that of San Giorgio Maggiore. Even the furnishings were similar, those of the organ in particular, whose case was carved by the same craftsman and was located in the same place, between the chancel and the choir; the choir stalls were also crafted with a similar decoration.
The contract signed between the monks and the masons (1626) refers specifically to the Palladian church: as a matter of fact, the architectural membering of the new building even had to imitate those of the other venetian abbey and had to be painted in red like they were.
Architectural experimentations long elaborated during the construction of San Giorgio Maggiore provided therefore the monks of San Nicolò del Lido an already established working model: they were even able to perfect it with minor modifications, giving way to the completion of the difficult genesis of the post-Tridentine monastic church.
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One gets the image of a quite impressive architecture, probably contemporary to the lavish sculptured decoration in gilded wood that covered the entire medieval nave giving it a modern appearance."
The historical period that I took into consideration (the two centuries between the beginning of the 15th and the early decades of the 17th) was a golden age for the Venetian organ; the instrument roused both curiosity in common people (citizens and travellers) and remarkable suggestions in cul-tured men. Some of these, such as Gioseffo Zarlino (one of the most important Venetian composers, Kapellmeister of the Ducal chapel and music theorist) and Girolamo Diruta (organist, composer and author of one of the most important musical treatises of the Renaissance), described the organ as «a wonderful machine comparable to a living creature».
The loss of these “marvellous machines” prevents us today from understanding their importance and artistic value; only a few organ cases with their balconies are now surviving almost intact. Numerous works that decorated the organ doors or the parapets (painted by artists such as Giovanni Bellini, Sebastiano del Piombo, Tintoretto, Francesco Vecellio, Paolo Veronese, Palma il Giovane) have become mural paintings inside many Venetian churches, or part of museum and private collections.
The book – by means of archival documents, published sources, and more than 400 bibliographi-cal references – reconstructs the artistic and cultural context that gave the organ the significance of an architectural and pictorial monument, whose function and liturgical role were similar to that of an al-tar. It is composed of four introductory chapters (1. The organ in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages; 2. The Venetian organ between the 15th and 17th century; 3. The Venetian organ and the trea-tises; 4. The organs of the basilica of Saint Mark) and a catalogue that contains eighty essays, each dedicated to a different church, with a reconstruction of the architectural context of the buildings, the position of the Renaissance instruments (e. g. the tradition of placing monastic and chapter choirs in the middle of the nave, or above raised structures over the main door of the church, required in fact particular locations for the organs) and their original decorations.
All of information collected allows us to better understand the liturgical and musical functionality of the Venetian churches between the 15th century and the beginning of the 17th, and to comprehend the social and the historical reasons that led to radical changes in the following centuries.
The same criteria were observed for the project of the new church of San Nicolò del Lido, probably designed by the venetian architect Francesco Contin: the plan of both the choir and the chancel is indeed almost identical to that of San Giorgio Maggiore. Even the furnishings were similar, those of the organ in particular, whose case was carved by the same craftsman and was located in the same place, between the chancel and the choir; the choir stalls were also crafted with a similar decoration.
The contract signed between the monks and the masons (1626) refers specifically to the Palladian church: as a matter of fact, the architectural membering of the new building even had to imitate those of the other venetian abbey and had to be painted in red like they were.
Architectural experimentations long elaborated during the construction of San Giorgio Maggiore provided therefore the monks of San Nicolò del Lido an already established working model: they were even able to perfect it with minor modifications, giving way to the completion of the difficult genesis of the post-Tridentine monastic church.
One gets the image of a quite impressive architecture, probably contemporary to the lavish sculptured decoration in gilded wood that covered the entire medieval nave giving it a modern appearance."
Choir changes in the larger abbey churches of the Veneto belonging to the Congregation of Santa Giustina or Cassinese (perhaps the most important Benedictine congregation in Renaissance Italy), demonstrate that the choir and main altar mutual transpositions did not derive from a modification of the liturgical and pastoral customs, but from purely aesthetic considerations.
From an architectural point of view, in the Renaissance Venice, there were three typologies of choir: the choir located in front of the chancel, the hanging choir (usually located above the main door of the church) and the retrochoir (located behind the main altar). This variety of choirs was connected with the different positions of the organs, usually located close to the choir itself and the chancel.
In spite of this, at the end of the 16th century, in the majority of the Venetian parish churches, the organ was placed above the main door, apparently far from the choir and the chancel: in those cases, however, buildings had modest dimension and the organ was still close to the altar and the choir.
Between the late 16th century and the early 17th, many choirs were moved to peripheral areas, sometimes for an explicit order of the apostolic visitors sent by the pope in 1581, sometimes because of new architectural models that tended to leave the nave free from any kind of barrier.
Despite the Doge Nicolò da Ponte rejected the innovations imposed by the apostolic visitors, declaring that Venice was enemy of changes, in the following years and decades almost all the Venetian churches changed the organization of the interior space.
In general, it can be stated that the choice of the architectural position of the organ within the churches corresponded to the acoustic need to spread the sound of the instrument as uniformly as possible. At the same time it was essential to ensure that the organist should be able to see and hear the celebrant on the high altar and the religiouses (co-celebrants) in the choir: for this reason the instrument had to be placed close to the chancel, or near the choir itself.
In Venice, in the 16th century, there were three kinds of choirs: those situated opposite the chancel (present in most collegiate parish churches and in some conventual churches); those situated in overhanging structures, which could be placed both near the centre of the building and above the main entrance (common in both male and female conventual churches); finally choirs placed behind the high altar (these were not yet numerous, but by the end of the century there were a few examples, in S. Francesco della Vigna, S. Giobbe, S. Giorgio Maggiore and the Redentore). The variety of positions led to a corresponding variety in the placing of the organs.
Some parish churches seem to be exceptions to this “rule”; by the end of the 16th century we find the organ being placed above the main door, apparently distant both from the chancel and from the choir: this is the case in S. Bartolomeo, S. Canciano, S. Giacomo dell’Orio, S. Giovanni Crisostomo, S. Maria Formosa, S. Fantin, S. Maria del Giglio, S. Giuliano and S. Nicolò dei Mendicoli. However, since these are all fairly small churches, it can be observed that the instrument was in any case relatively close to the two liturgical focal points of the temple.