The year 1740 included two milestones for the composer: the beginning of his collaboration with librettist Carlo Goldoni, and his appointment to the
38 Franco Piovano, “Baldassare Galuppi. Note bio-bibliografiche,” Rivista Musicale Italiana (1906): 695. "ad uso del N. U. s. Michiel Bernardo", "Degnissimo, e Virtuosissimo Maestro di Sua Eccellenza."
39 Gastone Vio, “I Maestri di coro dei Mendicanti,” in Galuppiana 1985: studi e ricerche: atti del convegno internazionale, (Venice, 28-30 ottobre 1985), ed.
Ospedale dei Mendicanti. Of their Ascension fair production of Gustavo Primo, Re
di Svezia at the Teatro San Samuele, Goldoni wrote in his memoirs: "The actors
being good, the music excellent and the dances very happy, nobody said
anything about the drama. I, meanwhile, stood behind the curtain and came out to share the applause that did not belong to me."40 The collaboration between the
composer and librettist proved to be profitable and satisfying for both. As
Goldoni commented in his diary, "My work entitled Orontes, King of the Scythians had a highly successful reception. The music of Buranello was divine;
decorations of Jolli, superb; the actors excellent. Nobody said a word about the libretto, but the author did not enjoy the luck of such a delightful spectacle any less."41
Galuppi’s appointment to the Mendicanti was preceded by two events. The first was the performance for Frederick Christian, Prince-Elector of Saxony, of Pietro Domenico Paradies's cantata La muse in gara, which concluded with a recitative and aria by Galuppi, "Se mai d'umil donzella" and "Al vapor de petti amanti." The Diario ordinario di Roma from April 9, 1740 noted, "Meanwhile, on
40 Carlo Goldoni, Memorie del Sig. Carlo Goldoni scritte da lui medesimo,
Tomo primo (Venice: Antonio Zatta e figli, 1788), 298-301. "Essendo buoni gli
attori, eccellente la musica, i balli allegrissimi, del Dramma niente si discorreva. Io intanto me ne stava dietro ad una cortina, ed entrava a parti degli applausi che non mi appartenevano."
41 Goldoni, Memorie, 308. "La mia opera intitolata Oronte, Re degli Sciti, ebbe un incontro fortunatissimo. La musica di Byranello era divina; le decorazioni di Jolli, superbe; gli attori eccellenti. Non si diceva parola del libro, ma l'autor di quello non godeva meno della fortuna di si delizioso spettacolo."
Monday night the Royal Prince Elect enjoyed another exquisite cantata for six voices by the girls of the Mendicanti, and alluding to his good fortune in coming, and extremely satisfied, left them 100 gold pieces."42 The second was an
invitation from the Mendicanti leadership on the 29th of May, 1740 to compose music for the occasion of the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. The administration of the Mendicanti was pleased by the favorable audience reception of the oratorio Galuppi had composed, Santa Maria Magdalena, and subsequently offered him the post of maestro di coro following the departure of the titular choir master, Giuseppe Giacomo Saratelli. On August 4th of that year the administration noted that "the negotiations with Galuppi having been positive, who in multiple
performances of his works drew distinct applause, [which was] especially
sustained recently on the day of St. Mary Magdalene with the performance of the oratorio." They voted seventeen to four in favor of appointing him with an
annual honorarium of 250 ducats.43 Notes from August 7 indicate that he was
42 "Venezia 9 Aprile, Diario ordinario di Roma, April 9, 1740, 4. "Intanto Lunedi sera il Real Principe Elettorale godè l'altra esquisita Cantata a sei voci dalle zitelle de' Mendicanti, allusiva alla sua fortunata venuta, e sodisfattissimo, lasciò loro 100 zecchini."
43 Giuseppe Ellero, Jolanda Scarpa, and Cristina Mantese, Arte e musica all'ospedaletto: schede d'archivio sull'attività musicale degli ospedali dei Derelitti e dei Mendicanti di Venezia (sec. XVI-XVIII) (Venice: Stamperia di Venezia Editrice,
1978), 186. "Mancando il maestro titloare di Coro ed essendo state positive le trattative
col Galuppi, che in più incontri delle sue opere riportò distinto applause, e che
spetialmente nella recente sosteneuta nel giorno di S. Maria Maddalena con la recita dell’ oratorio, lo si elegge per maestro di coro per anni tre, con duc. 250 annui."
elected “for three years, with the duty to instruct the girls of the chorus and compose masses, vespers, and all that which must be sung by the girls.”44
The conservatories of the Venetian ospedali represented what was
fundamentally a closed system for musical education with no aspirations to be a "school" in the modern sense, but rather, vocational institutions whose goal was the training of young female musicians exclusively for in-house performances. The phenomenon of the figlie di coro attracted tourists, connoisseurs, and professional musicians to the city and generated income for the ospedali themselves, which, together with the rivalry among the four institutions,
provided an incentive for upholding high standards. The maestro and maestro di
coro posts were visible and highly desirable, and the names of those who held
them, Vivaldi, Porpora, Hasse, Lotti, and Cimarosa among them, were calling cards to audiences.45
Within his first twelve months Galuppi had written and performed no fewer than thirty-one of his sacred works at the Mendicanti, which he listed in a
supplica to the governatori, including sixteen motets, four Marian antiphons, and
44 Ellero, Arte e musica, 172. “È eletto maestro di Musica per tre anni Baldassare Galuppi, con l’obligo di istruire le figlie del Coro e comporre Messe, Vesperi e tutto quello che dev’ essere cantata dalle figlie, con l’onorario di duc. 250 annui."
45 Helen Geyer and Wolfgang Osthoff, Musik an den venezianischen Ospedali: Konservatorien vom 17. bis zum frühen 19. Jahrhundert : Symposion vom 4. bis 7. April 2001, Venedig (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2004), xi.
nine psalm settings.46 However, as the same petition makes clear, Galuppi’s
reputation as composer was still climbing and he was not going to turn down other professional opportunities, even those that might take him away from the Venetian Republic. So he also promised to deliver two more Salve Regina settings, a setting of Alma Mater Redemptoris, a Confitebor tibi, Domine setting, a setting of
Laudate pueri, and other works in exchange for permission to go to London for an
extended period.47 An entry from August 27, 1741 notes that “The decision
regarding granting a license for Galuppi to go to England for a period of nine months is still pending,” and elsewhere that “Permission for the maestro Galuppi to go to England for nine months is not granted, because the choir would be lacking in teachers.”48 And yet, ultimately, the composer did indeed
leave, under conditions left unspecified.