The Bentivoglio and music, 1605‒1684
Letters from the Raccolta Stefani in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia
Abstract
Thanks to the valuable books by Dinko Fabris and Sergio Monaldini, the significant role played in the 17th century by various members of the Bentivoglio family as patrons of music and theater has become increasingly clear. Although Fabris and Monaldini have published a significant part of the Bentivoglio correspondence, most of which is preserved in the Ferrara State Archives, the two scholars have not considered that part of the correspondence that has been preserved in the Stefani Collection of the Venice State Archives since the early 19th century. An exploration of this fund from a music-historical perspective revealed a batch of fifteen letters, concerning various aspects of seventeenth-century music, which are published and commented on for the first time in this article. In addition to confirming the multiple activities of the Bentivoglios as organizers of performances and patrons of musicians, the letters also offer interesting insights into the strategies of music collectors, the politico-musical circumstances of certain events, and the exchange of musicians in the period between 1605 and 1684.
