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Unlike those in many other cities, Venetian nuns acted primarily as patrons, rather than performers. This chapter examines the employment of musicians, both singers and instrumentalists, for a wide range of religious occasions, from weekly sung Masses involving primarily clergy, to annual public expositions of the Holy Sacrament, to spectacular celebrations of the annual patronal feast of each nunnery, with the participation of some of the most important musicians of the city. These events were witnessed and described by both Venetians and foreign visitors, and were publicized in visitors’ guidebooks by such people as Vincenzo Coronelli. Both civic and ecclesiastical authorities attempted, with varying degrees of success, to limit expenditures for these events and what was sometimes seen as excessive display, more appropriate for the theater than the church. Authorities also worked to restrict contact between the nuns and the men whom they paid to perform.

This chapter treats musical activities at the scuole piccole in the 17th century. Their patronal feasts remained important occasions for music, but other events also become significant. The Scuola dello Spirito Santo sponsored elaborate music for Pentecost, employing, among others, Francesco Cavalli and Antonio Lotti. Other scuole employed musicians for weekly compline services, monthly processions, and regular expositions of the Holy Sacrament. Services at the Fraterna Grande di Sant'Antonino included laude performed by the brothers. Many scuole, especially the parish-based Holy Sacrament confraternities, continued to build and maintain organs and employ organists. The Sovvegno di Santa Cecilia, founded by the singers of the city, organized an annual festivity that was one of the most elaborate in the city, with the participation of the entire chapel of San Marco and many others.

This chapter discusses the earliest musical activities at the hundreds of smaller confraternities known as scuole piccole. It provides an overview of the variety of scuole piccole and their histories. As early as the 14th century, piffari appeared in the records of the scuole, and beginning in the 16th century, some began to spend considerable sums for singers and instrumentalists for their annual feast day, and occasionally for Holy Week. Some scuole, particularly the parish-based Holy Sacrament confraternities, built organs and employed organists. The confraternity of the Florentine community in Venice, unlike the other scuole, practiced communal singing of laude.

This chapter is concerned with the final century of music at the scuole piccole, ending with their suppression in 1807 after the Napoleonic conquest of Venice. Many scuole during this period hired well-known maestri di cappella, including Baldassare Galuppi, Ferdinando Bertoni, and Antonio Polarolo, to coordinate music for their annual festivals. Some also sponsored music for the Christmas novena, for tridui in February and August, and for Lent (when some performed passions). Several employed salaried choirs of priests for monthly or weekly events or for Lenten processions. Another group paid for musicians to accompany them to Rome for jubilees in 1700 and 1725. Also, as in previous centuries, the parish-based Holy Sacrament Confraternities built and maintained organs and employed organists.

The most important musical event for a scuola grande was the annual celebration of the feast day of its patron saint. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, the scuole each hired some of the best musicians in the city. In 1553, singers of St. Mark's formed a company to regulate their participation in these and similar feasts. In the first half of the 17th century, the annual celebration at the Scuola di San Rocco became one of the most spectacular musical events in the city. The scuola hired the best choirs, soloists, instrumental ensembles, and virtuoso players, as well as multiple organists, with the participation of such masters as Giovanni Gabrieli, Giovanni Croce, Claudio Monteverdi, and Alessandro Grandi.