Women tenors and basses - a brief introduction

for women only!  

Here are the first two choral phrases of Vivaldi's Laetatus sum, giving the names of four of Vivaldi's singers with whom you might identify. Remember that you entered the Pietà as an illegitimate girl, and are known by your first name and your instrument or voice (e.g. Cecilia dal Contralto, Silvia dal Violin); Appolonia was so famous that only her first name was used.

As an experiment, try singing each part in turn: soprano, contralto, tenor and finally bass. Remember that pitch in 18th century Venice was similar to today's (A=440) or a little higher, so there is no need to sing a semitone lower at so-called "baroque" pitch (A=415). Most women can sing the tenor part quite easily, and some can manage the bass except for the low G; even this is possible for a small number of gifted singers. The bass line was always doubled by continuo instruments, so the low voices are never left exposed. In scores by some of Vivaldi's Pietà contemporaries an alternative bass note is occasionally given an octave higher - the low G of the bass part below, for example.

© 2006 Richard Vendome

Filming the documentary

The documentary "Vivaldi's Women" on BBC Four presented the story of an extraordinary creative partnership between one of history’s great composers – Antonio Vivaldi – and an all-female orchestra and choir. In the early 18th century, Father Antonio Vivaldi was a violin teacher, musical director, musical instrument procurer and in-house composer for a Venetian institution called La Pietà, a home for children who had been abandoned at birth.

The institution had its own all-female orchestra and choir who provided sacred “entertainment” in the church for the visiting “Grand Tourists”. The unique creative relationship that Vivaldi formed with these women resulted in what many believe to be one of the finest performing groups of all time.

The documentary also reveals the personal stories of this unique community of female musicians and the full extent of Vivaldi’s relationship with the institution.

During five days in November 2005 Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi, directed by Richard Vendome, recorded and filmed three different programmes for the BBC on location at La Pietà. The choir of 18 past and present members of Oxford Girls' Choir (aged 14-33), together with seven older ladies, replicated Vivaldi's choir in size, age and vocal range, the lowest voices can singing down to bottom F on the bass stave!

Antonio Vivaldi, as well as being a composer, worked at the Ospedale della Pietà for much of the first half of the 18th century. This was one of four such institutions in Venice - a home for abandoned and unwanted babies, often the children of prostitutes. The boys there were trained in stone cutting, weaving and shoe making, so they could leave at 16 with a skill for the future. The girls however, unless they got married or became nuns, stayed there for the rest of their lives.

It was Vivaldi’s job to train those girls who showed musical promise (about one in ten) to sing and play instruments during services at La Pietà. Vivaldi wrote many of his works for this female musical establishment, and evidence suggests that all the vocal parts were sung by women, including tenor and bass.

In November 2005 we travelled to Venice with 17 female members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Jerwood Experience, led by brilliant young virtuoso Nadja Zwiener, to perform at the church of La Pietà, staying in the Casa per Ferie, close to where the orphans used to live. The boned corsets of the 18th century costumes were elegant if rather constraining, and we filmed the "Gloria" by candlelight behind the grills in the galleries looking down on the main body of the church.

In addition to filming the "Gloria" we spent a day recording and rehearsing Vivaldi’s music for Easter Vespers for BBC Radio 3, which was broadcast on "The Choir" on Easter Day 2006. The programme was presented by Aled Jones and Catherine Bott; the producer for the BBC was Michael Surcombe and the sound engineer was Mike Hatch.

The Pietà in Vivaldi's day

Babies were brought in for various reasons, some found by the roadside or floating in the canals, perhaps from families too poor to bring them up, or whose mothers had no milk, but most were children born through prostitution. They were placed in foster homes for the first six years, and then returned to the Pietà. The boys learned a trade such as stone cutting, weaving or shoe making, and left equipped with a skill at the age of 16. The girls had three options: to marry, to become nuns, or to stay at the Pietà for the rest of their lives. There were two groups, the Figlie di Comun (non–musicians), who did the sewing, embroidery, silk and cotton weaving, took care of various tasks in the institution and sold some of the work they produced, and the Figlie di Choro (musicians), the élite of the Pietà, some 60–70 in Vivaldi’s day, who had separate rooms and a special diet.  A privileged few were allowed to earn extra income by teaching the daughters of wealthy families sent to the Pietà as Figlie in Educazione. The two senior musicians were known as maestra, and the head of the household was the priora. The skills of the "choro" attracted visitors from across Europe and a visit to the Pietà became a feature of the Grand Tour.

Vivaldi’s job was to train those girls who showed musical promise (about one in ten) to sing and play instruments during services at La Pietà. He wrote many works for this establishment, and evidence suggests that all the vocal parts were sung by women, including tenor and bass. He started his career at the Pietà as Maestro di Violin in September 1703, aged 25, six months after being ordained a priest. In 1714 he was invited to succeed Francesco Gasparini as Maestro di Choro, but refused the post; a short time later, however, he was appointed to the specially created office of Maestro dei Concerti.  During this period he wrote his first sacred works, including the well–known Gloria.

© 2004  Micky White