Vienna's Ursuline Convent and the Via Allemagna : travel, music, letters

Abstract

In the late 17th century and the early 18th, the Ursuline Convent in Vienna imported Italian theatrical traditions, libretti, and music. Musical works performed in the convent set Italian libretti, especially from Rome. The convent may have served as a conduit for music in the new Italian style, performing a cantata by Giuseppe Pacieri in 1692 and oratorios by Carlo Agostino Badia beginning in 1694. Correspondence between Madre Maria Arcangela Biondini, abbess of the Servite convent in Arco, and the Brescian composer Paris Francesco Alghisi documents her requests for music on behalf of the Viennese Ursulines and the musical preferences of the nuns.

Keywords

• convent music
• Ursuline Order
• Maria Arcangela Biondini
• Petronilla Paolini
• Paris Francesco Alghisi
• Carlo Agostino Badia