One of the major centers of musical production in Catania, between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was the Benedictine Monastery of S. Nicolò l’Arena in which a prestigious musical chapel operated under the guidance of some chapel masters from the renowned Neapolitan conservatories. The community of Benedictine monks, whose first establishment dates back to 1588, remained in Catania until 1866 when the monastery was expropriated as a result of the so-called "eversive” laws of the Kingdom of Italy; in the same year a booklet entitled Preghiere e pratiche divote in onore del Bambino Gesù̀ was printed, which attests to the survival of an ancient devotion in honor of the Holy Childhood of Jesus, which was celebrated on the 25th of each month. It is probable that the introduction of this devotion into the monastery of Catania dates back to 1710 but from the account books it is clear that the musical activities connected to it began only in 1717. An interesting testimony on the development of this pious practice is contained in the Tagebücher of the Danish theologian Friedrich Münter, who stayed in Catania in 1786 and had the opportunity to attend a solemn celebration officiated by the Abbot of the monastery in which the ceremony of the so-called «vestizione del Santo Bambino» (dressing of the Holy Child) took place with a sumptuous musical accompaniment performed on the organ. In the years of the Restoration, the political and religious authorities promoted the spread of this form of devotion on the territory of the Italian peninsula in opposition to the doctrines of atheism and anticlericalism that had spread following the Napoleonic military campaigns. In 1818 the Benedictine monks of Catania decided to increase the musical component in the ceremony of the “vestizione” by commissioning the chapel master Vincenzo Tobia Bellini (1744-1829) to compose new antiphons with an expanded instrumental staff that also included string and wind instruments. The manuscript score of these antiphons, fortunately which has come down to us, also contains valuable information on the conduct of the ceremony and the use of further musical compositions in the same circumstance. Starting from the writings of the Jesuit religious Giuseppe Patrignani, in which the first description of the ceremony of the “vestizione” is found, and through the comparison with the sources that attest to the presence of devotion to the Holy Childhood in Catania, it has been possible to attempt a reconstruction of the rites that were practiced in the monastery of S. Nicolò l’Arena in honor of the Holy Child, between the ’700 and ’800, both in their ceremonial and musical aspects.
Musica e pratiche devozionali nel monastero benedettino di San Nicolò l’Arena tra Sette-Ottocento: osservanza e persistenza del culto dell’Infanzia di Gesù Bambino*
DE LUCA M.
2025-01-01
Abstract
One of the major centers of musical production in Catania, between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was the Benedictine Monastery of S. Nicolò l’Arena in which a prestigious musical chapel operated under the guidance of some chapel masters from the renowned Neapolitan conservatories. The community of Benedictine monks, whose first establishment dates back to 1588, remained in Catania until 1866 when the monastery was expropriated as a result of the so-called "eversive” laws of the Kingdom of Italy; in the same year a booklet entitled Preghiere e pratiche divote in onore del Bambino Gesù̀ was printed, which attests to the survival of an ancient devotion in honor of the Holy Childhood of Jesus, which was celebrated on the 25th of each month. It is probable that the introduction of this devotion into the monastery of Catania dates back to 1710 but from the account books it is clear that the musical activities connected to it began only in 1717. An interesting testimony on the development of this pious practice is contained in the Tagebücher of the Danish theologian Friedrich Münter, who stayed in Catania in 1786 and had the opportunity to attend a solemn celebration officiated by the Abbot of the monastery in which the ceremony of the so-called «vestizione del Santo Bambino» (dressing of the Holy Child) took place with a sumptuous musical accompaniment performed on the organ. In the years of the Restoration, the political and religious authorities promoted the spread of this form of devotion on the territory of the Italian peninsula in opposition to the doctrines of atheism and anticlericalism that had spread following the Napoleonic military campaigns. In 1818 the Benedictine monks of Catania decided to increase the musical component in the ceremony of the “vestizione” by commissioning the chapel master Vincenzo Tobia Bellini (1744-1829) to compose new antiphons with an expanded instrumental staff that also included string and wind instruments. The manuscript score of these antiphons, fortunately which has come down to us, also contains valuable information on the conduct of the ceremony and the use of further musical compositions in the same circumstance. Starting from the writings of the Jesuit religious Giuseppe Patrignani, in which the first description of the ceremony of the “vestizione” is found, and through the comparison with the sources that attest to the presence of devotion to the Holy Childhood in Catania, it has been possible to attempt a reconstruction of the rites that were practiced in the monastery of S. Nicolò l’Arena in honor of the Holy Child, between the ’700 and ’800, both in their ceremonial and musical aspects.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
