City in Italy, the capital of Sardinia. It was founded by the Phoenicians around the 9th century bc. There is evidence of musical activity since the Nuragic Age (2000–1000 bc). A building of the late Punic period (300–200 bc) was probably used as a theatre; the Roman amphitheatre (ad 100–200) had a capacity of 10,000. The Codici Corali of Oristano (1300) belonged to the conventual Friars Minor who came to Sardinia at the beginning of the 13th century. Other liturgical codices in square neumes survive in the convent of Bonaria, the church of S Francesco, the cathedral (1254) and the university library.
Theatrical activity flourished during the last centuries of Aragonese-Catalan rule (1326–1713), in palaces, churches and public squares. The same period saw the rise of the confraternities (still active) of the Sacro Monte (1531), the Gonfalone (1564), the Solitudine (1608) and the Crocifisso (1616). During the feast of St Ephisius and Holy Week (Misterius) they sing hymns in the Sard language and in Catalan, carrying banners and statues in processions.
From the beginnings of the 17th century until 1860 there were performances of sacre rappresentazioni (autos), loas and cantate. The earliest examples of religious drama are in the Alabanças de los Santos de Sardeña, including La passion de Christo nuestro Señore, en verso, which was performed in the ancient basilica of S Saturnino (c500) in 1629. The Passione e morte di nostro Senori Gesù Cristu, performed in 1860, was received with fanatical enthusiasm in remote country areas. The stage directions of these and other plays indicate that they were accompanied by instrumental music, of which no trace survives; their strophes bear rhythmic similarities to those of the goccius (laude in Sard and Catalan sung in honour of saints). The loas and cantate (similar in form) were elaborate celebratory performances, both sacred and secular, combined with dancing. There was also tornei, mascherate and luminarie with splendid scenery and music.
The oldest cappella musicale was that of the Santuario di Bonaria, active in the 14th century. The Cappella Civica Primaziale of the cathedral was probably founded at the beginning of the 16th century; its singers and instrumentalists attended court ceremonies and provided public entertainments and musical tuition. Among the maestri di cappella were two natives of Cagliari, the Franciscan T. Polla (1615–63), who held the same post in Florence, Naples and Rome (the Papal cappella), and the philosopher C. Buragna (1634–79). In 1824 the cappella was replaced by the Accademia Filarmonica, which also performed at the Teatro Lirico; it was reformed in 1835 and ceased to exist in 1909. Savoy rule (1720–1860) saw the flourishing of bande musicali, regimental and civic bands which enlivened court ceremonies and religious and secular festivities. Some were conspicuous for their brilliant uniforms and valuable instruments donated by patrons. In 1858 the municipal authority founded the Banda Civica, which gave open-air concerts; it was suppressed in 1917.
The Savoy government intensified contacts with cities on the mainland, and this led to a passionate interest in opera. The first public theatre, the Teatro di Piazza S Pancrazio, was built in the second half of the 18th century. The Teatro Regio (built 1766; also called Teatro Las Passas), a mostly wooden construction, was acquired by the municipality in 1831 and renamed Teatro Civico. It was rebuilt in masonry and reopened in 1836, but was destroyed in an air raid in 1943. The Nuovo Teatro Diurno (1859) was originally an open-air theatre but in 1869 was given a movable wooden roof and renamed Teatro Cerruti. It was rebuilt to seat 2000 and reopened as the Politeama Regina Margherita in 1897. It was seriously damaged by fire in 1942 and destroyed in 1943. The two theatres staged many operas, some soon after their premières, often with well-known artists and always with a lively audience.
Until the end of the 19th century music teaching in Cagliari was undertaken mostly by amateurs. The Scuola Municipale di Musica was instituted in 1880 but at first bore little fruit; the composer and conductor Giulio Buzenac (1859–1925) introduced more systematic methods of study. He also founded the Società Musicale di Cagliari (active 1895–9). During World War I, all forms of musical activity in the city were suppressed. In 1921 the Istituto Civico Musicale Mario de Candia was founded, the first director being the young Renato Fasano. His dynamism resulted in a vigorous expansion of music education and musical activity at a high level, not only in Cagliari but thoughout Sardinia. It became the Liceo Musicale in 1926; its Sala A. Scarlatti was a small but active concert hall inaugurated in the same year. The school was raised to the status of state conservatory (1931) and then became the Regio Conservatorio di Musica Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1939). It was associated successively with the Istituzione dell'Accademia dei Concerti (1924), the Fondazione dei Concerti di Musica da Camera (1926), the Istituzione dei Concerti del Regio Conservatorio (1940) and finally the Istituzione dei Concerti e del Teatro Lirico Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1946), still active, with a permanent orchestra and chorus.
After World War II musical life in Cagliari, which had suffered heavily, soon recovered, using cinemas and the Roman amphitheatre. The auditorium of the conservatory, adapted from the former Jesuit church of S Teresa (1691), was inaugurated in 1953 with a concert given by the Collegium Musicum Italicum (founded 1948) under Fasano. Concerts are now given in the auditorium (1977) of the conservatory, and for opera in the large Teatro Comunale (inaugurated 1993). The activities of the Istituzione dei Concerti include concerts in other parts of the island, festivals, seminars, lectures and publications. The conservatory, which since 1922 had been housed in the historic but cramped Palazzo Comunale (formerly Palazzo della Città, 1331), moved in 1970 to commodious purpose-built premises. The library of the conservatory, founded in 1926, was reorganized in 1940 and now comprises over 30,000 works, including collections of manuscripts from the old cathedral cappella and of autograph manuscripts of modern composers.
DEUMM (A. Trudu)
N. Oneto: Memoria sopra le cose musicali di Sardegna (Cagliari, 1841)
G. Giacomelli: Della musica in Sardegna (Cagliari, 1896)
F. Corona: Il Politeama regina Margherita (Cagliari, 1898)
G. De Francesco: Il Teatro civico di Cagliari (Cagliari, 1900)
Diorama della musica in Sardegna (Cagliari, 1937)
M.L. Fasano Cao: Il Conservatorio di Musica di Cagliari (Florence, n.d.)
F. Alziator: Storia della letteratura di Sardegna (Cagliari, 1954)
G. Milia: I codici musicali della Sardegna medioevale (Cagliari, 1983)
G.N.M. Spanu: Documenti e ipotesi sull'attività musicale a Cagliari nei secoli XVI e XVII (Cagliari, 1987)
F. Ruggieri: Storia del Teatro civico di Cagliari (Cagliari, 1993)
Dall'Accademia all'Istituzione: Settant'anni di musica a Cagliari, ii (Cagliari, 1994) [pubn of Istituzione dei Concerti e del Teatro Lirico Cagliari]
G. Mele: Psalterium-hymnarium Arborense (Rome, 1994)
ERNESTO PAOLONE