The Mystery of Vivaldi's Gloria

There is an intriguing question that hangs about Vivaldi’s Gloria.  Since he composed this work for the Ospedale della Pietà, an eighteenth-century girl’s charitable institution with a sensational orchestra and choir, why is it an SATB piece?  Men and women were not allowed to sing together in church services in those days.  There is no record of any tenor or bass singers in the Ospedale’s music school.  And yet, among the many treble-voiced works at the Ospedale, there are many Vivaldi pieces, like the Gloria, that are clearly voiced for SATB choirs.  Why do such a peculiar thing?

Or was it?

Musicologists have long scratched their heads over this conundrum.  Given the religious strictures, it’s unlikely that men and boys were brought into the Ospedale to sing with the women at a sacred service.  Could the tenor and bass parts have been dropped during the performance?  Since the lower parts are doubled by cellos and basses that’s a possibility, but it seems rather unsatisfying, and the structural integrity of the works wouldn’t hold up well.

There is another possibility, one that is suggested by the names of singers and players still preserved in part books from the Ospedale.  They are all women’s names, first name only followed by the instrument they played or the part they sang.  Here are a few of the names:

Cecilia dal Contralto

Lorenza dalla Viola

Paulina dal Tenor

Clementia dal Violin

Anneta dal Basso

Anneta dal Basso?!  Paulina dal Tenor?!  And they aren’t the only ones so identified.

These women, from a centuries-old way of life, seem to come alive for me, almost step into the modern world, because of those evocative names.  They suggest an area of expertise in what is traditionally a man’s world, a kind of low-voice specialization.  And indeed many musicologists think that is exactly what happened at the Ospedale: women sang the tenor and bass lines, and if the part temporarily dropped too low, they popped up an octave until it moved back in range again.  How beautifully creative!

Could Vivaldi have had an eye to future performances by SATB choirs?  Boys sang the soprano and alto parts in choral works for worship services, so there were many more mixed-voice choirs than treble choirs.  It’s a fascinating thought. Vivaldi was certainly vain, hungry for recognition, and a hard bargainer who was excessively preoccupied with money.  It wouldn’t surprise me to find he had an eye on maximizing his reputation and his income!

But of course, we don’t know for sure, and may never know.  But we can imagine.  And we can imagine what this final movement from the Gloria might have sounded like with spirited women tenors and basses.

Dr. Linda Gingrich

Artistic director and conductor

Master Chorus Eastside