Along with many of his sacred works, Vivaldi’s setting of the Magnificat RV 610 was written for his widely renowned choir and orchestra of the Pio Ospedale de la Pietà in Venice. During his time there Vivaldi built a reputation of virtuosity and excellence which attracted interest from far and wide.
Although their sublime and unique sound fostered among the enraptured audiences a vision of ethereal beauties hidden behind metalwork screens on balconies in the church of Santa Maria de la Pietà, the truth was somewhat different.
The girls at that particular Ospedale (there were four in Venice in the early 18th century) were taken in as abandoned or unwanted infants. Many were born of noblewomen, or as a result of clandestine affairs and prostitution. That period in Venice was infamous for libertine behaviour: casual couplings, gambling, excessive drinking and socially irresponsible behaviour. Syphilis and other STD’s were rife and resulted in deformities among many unfortunate babies.
One way of being rid of an embarrassing or inconvenient birth was to deposit the child in the scaffetta of the Pietà. This was a young infant sized ‘letterbox’ where a desperate mother or family member could place little one and know that he or she would be cared for.
Some mothers left a keepsake with the baby: perhaps a lock of her hair, half a coin or a ribbon, in the vain hope that she would be able to reclaim her offspring in better times. However this was very unlikely because donating a baby in this way resulted in the Pietà having legal guardianship.
The boys were kept there to the age of seven and then sent away as apprentices or farmworkers. The girls began music lessons and, if they showed talent, were highly trained as musicians. Most of them stayed there for the whole of their lives and became famous and celebrated. Those without the requisite talent were employed domestically. They were luckier than countless other unfortunates babes, who were all too often slipped discreetly into a canal.
The most significant fact about Vivaldi’s celebrated choir was uncovered at the beginning of this century by researchers of the Pietà who found convincing evidence that all voice parts were sung by women.
It is probable that Vivaldi had one unusually low-voiced woman which gave him the idea. In fact she is named in the archives as Anna dal Basso (Anna from the bass). Vocal bass lines were usually doubled by the double basses in the orchestra for extra strength, because female bass voices are lighter than males.
Female tenors were easier to find because the range is not so different from low alto voices. We have a female tenor in Cantabile!
In 2003, a group of female singers aged 16 to 65 mainly from the Oxford area was formed by the musicologist and director of Oxford Girls’ Choir Richard Vendome, to visit Venice and recreate the unique sound of SATB women.
Our Musical Director Penelope Martin-Smith writes: ‘I have been privileged to be his associate director and vocal coach for the group, which became known popularly as ‘Vivaldi’s Women’. We filmed the resulting performances in 2005 for a BBC4 documentary, which you can watch on YouTube.’
We are delighted to bring you Vivaldi’s Magnificat in the mixed male/female SATB-voiced choral version at our Spring 2025 Concert on 12 April at the church of St Félicien, Issigeac (24560), led by our Musical Director, Penelope Martin-Smith.