Music Patronage in Italy

Edited by Galliano Ciliberti

Book cover: Music Patronage in Italy

Extent: 491 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Italian Studies, Music & Performing Arts

Series: Studies on Italian Music History

Series volume number: 15

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(September 2021)

ISBN: 9782503595443

Price: $157.00

In stock

This book focuses on the various aspects of music patronage in Italy from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century


During the Renaissance and throughout the Baroque and Classical periods, musical production was linked to patronage. There are essentially two types of patronage. The first relates to political institutions, to public life, and aims to promote musical events that highlight the wealth and power of the patron in the eyes of rival courts and subjects – hence the birth of the court chapels. The second type belongs to the private sphere, in which the patron, of noble birth and as such in possession of high moral and intellectual virtues, has a discriminating artistic sensibility – hence the promotion of chamber music activities, the collecting of rare and valuable musical instruments, and the compilation and collection of musical manuscripts, possibly in deluxe or personalized copies. This musical production system lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century, when the advent of capitalism and the rise of the bourgeois class caused the decline of patronage. This book focuses on the various aspects of music patronage in Italy from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century.

  • Edited by Galliano Ciliberti