City in Lombardy, Italy. From the 13th century the cathedral had a choir with a schola cantorum, whose first known cantor was Oldofredo da Leno (1287–?1315). During the 16th and 17th centuries there was a distinguished succession of maestri di cappella and organists. The former included Giovanni Contino (1551–61), who began his career there as a chorister, and Lelio Bertani (1574–91), who spent much of his life in his native Brescia. Claudio Merulo was organist in 1556–7, and was succeeded by his pupil Florentio Maschera (1557–84), the composer and organ builder Costanzo Antegnati (1584–1620) and Francesco Turini (1620–56), who ended his career in Brescia. Other less important musical establishments in the city’s churches were supported during the 16th century by wealthy families.
The city was ruled by the Venetian Republic from 1428 to 1797 and never experienced the musical life afforded by the patronage of an independent court. The only record of such activity relates to a group of musicians in the train of Pandolfo Malatesta, who conquered Brescia in 1406. 15th-century manuscripts contain the names of Brescian musicians such as Matheus de Brixia and Prepositus Brixiensis; both of them were active elsewhere, as were later musicians born in the city. These included Luca Marenzio; Biagio Marini, who was briefly organist to the Brescian Accademia degli Erranti in 1620; the opera composer F.G. Bertoni (1725–1813); and the violinist and instrumental composer Antonio Bazzini (1818–97). As Chamberlain (camerlengo) of Brescia by appointment of the Venetian Republic, Benedetto Marcello spent the last year of his life in Brescia and died there while working on the unfinished L’universale redenzione.
Theatrical activity was initiated by the Jesuits, who built a theatre that was active between 1658 and 1681, occasionally including musical performances. The main theatre is the Teatro Grande, a sumptuous 18th-century building, which originated in a theatre built in 1664 as the Teatro dell'illustrissima Accademia degli Erranti. The first opera performed there was Cavalli's Eritrea (1665) and regular opera performances were subsequently given during Carnival and the summer fair seasons up to the end of the 18th century. The theatre was renamed Teatro Nuovo and later, during the Napoleonic regime, Teatro Nazionale. In 1810 it was enlarged to 108 boxes and was reopened in 1811 as the Teatro Grande with Mayr’s Il sacrifizio di Ifigenia. During the 19th century seasons of opera and of spoken drama alternated regularly. Besides premières (Mayr’s Egeria, 1816) and important revivals (Ponchielli’s revised Marion Delorme, 1885, and the three-act version of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, 1904), one of the first performances in Italy of Parsifal was given there (1914). A second theatre, the Teatro Sociale, was built of wood in 1851; it was known as the Teatro Guillaume until 1905, when it was rebuilt and reopened with a performance of Giordano’s Siberia. In the second half of the 20th century it has been used for operetta, variety shows and spoken drama. At the end of the 1990s the theatre was restored to its original form.
Concert life began at the end of the 18th century when the Società Filarmonica Apollo gave musical evenings in the Apollo Hall of the Martinengo Palace. Concerts have been given in the hall of the Bargnani Palace and the transept of S Luca, but now the Pietro da Cemmo Hall of the conservatory, the S Carlino room and the Ridotto Hall of the Teatro Grande are more often used. 20th-century instrumental ensembles have included the Trio Bresciano (1931–40) and the Complesso del Vittoriale (1931–8), founded on the initiative of Gabriele d’Annunzio; the C. Quaranta Mandolin Society (1916); the permanent orchestra of the Venturi Concerts, instituted in 1959 for educational purposes; the Gasparo da Salò Chamber Orchestra (1963) and I Cameristi Lombardi (1972). Important choral groups have included those named after Bazzini (1911–38) and Marenzio (1919–24), the Coro del Seminario (1939–65) and that of S Gregorio Magno (founded 1923). In the last decades of the 20th century various choral groups in the city and provinces became active, among them the Città di Brescia choir and La Rocchetta choir of the Palazzolo. Concerts are promoted by various organizations: the Società dei Concerti da Camera (1868); the Società i Concerti Sinfonici S Cecilia (1938); the Gruppo Musicale G. Frescobaldi, founded in 1952 to make use of the city’s early organs; and the Giovani Interpreti Associati, active from 1969. The Festival Pianistico Internazionale di Brescia e Bergamo is held annually; it was initiated in 1964 by Agostino Orizio, with the collaboration of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, and since 1969 has been held in conjunction with a festival known as the Rassegna Internazionale di Musica Contemporanea, which specializes in contemporary piano music. The Settimana di Musica Barocca is held biennially in the churches and palaces of Brescia. Since 1974 the Associazione Amici della Pace has promoted organ and chamber recitals.
From the 15th century Brescia was a centre of instrument manufacture; some viols were made anonymously for Isabella d'Este in the last years of the 15th century, and the violin maker Gasparo da Salò (1540–1609), worked there. Other instrument makers active in Brescia were G.P. Maggini (1580–?1630–1631), Giovita Rodiani (?1568–?1624) and Matteo Benti (c1580–after 1661); during the 17th century there was a link between this school and the instrument makers of Cremona. The lute maker Giuseppe Scarampella (1838–1902) was also a noted craftsman. The Antegnati family had their firm in Brescia and dominated Italian organ building from the mid-15th century to the mid-17th; many of their excellent instruments are still in use in the city and province.
Brescian printers of books on music theory were active as early as the end of the 15th century; the Britannico family was particularly noted for its publications throughout the 16th century, for instance Lanfranco’s Scintille di musica (1533). The most important music printers were the Tini brothers. The Banda Civica, instituted in 1798, has followed the history of the city. Disbanded in the fascist period it resumed its activities at the beginning of the 1950s with the name Associazione I. Capitanio and, under G. Ligasacchi, in the 1960s began a period of important development. Since the 1980s, together with intense concert activity, the Associazione has been dedicated to educational activities: composition courses, performance studies and editorial work; the publication Brescia Musica, launched in 1985, is unique in its genre of culture and musical information.
In 1971 the Istituto Musicale Antonio Venturi, founded in 1866 on the initiative of individual patrons and eminent musicians, became the Conservatorio Statale di Brescia. It was later named after Marenzio. It was considerably extended in the early 1970s and since the 1990s has promoted chamber and orchestral concerts. In 1978 the Fondazione ‘Romano Romanini’ inaugurated a series of competitions for string players. Composers active in Brescia in the 20th century included Franco Margola and Camillo Togni.
BurneyFI; DEUMM (R. Zanetti); GroveO (O. Termini); MGG2 (M.T.R. Barezzani) [incl. further bibliography]
P. Guerrini: ‘I canonici cantori della cattedrale di Brescia’, NA, i (1924), 82–4
P. Guerrini: ‘Di alcuni organisti nella cattedrale di Brescia nel Cinquecento’, NA, iii (1926), 246–56
P. Guerrini: ‘Gli organi e gli organisti delle due cattedrali di Brescia’, NA, xvi (1939), 205–25
G. Bignami, ed.: Enciclopedia dei musicisti bresciani (Milan, 1963/R)
V. Brunelli: ‘Musica e musicisti a Brescia’, Storia di Brescia, iii (Brescia, 1964), 907–40
R. Zanetti: Un secolo di musica a Brescia: il primo centenario della Società dei concerti (Milan, 1970)
L. Arruga, ed.: La musica a Brescia (Brescia, 1979)
M. Sala: Catalogo del fondo musicale dell'Archivio capitolare del Duomo di Brescia (Turin, 1984)
O. Termini: ‘Organists and Chapel Masters at the Cathedral of Brescia (1608–1779)’, NA, new ser., iii (1985), 73–90
O. Mischiati: Bibliografia delle opere dei musicisti bresciani pubblicate a stampa dal 1497 al 1740 (Florence, 1992)
CARLO PERUCCHETTI