Italian Diminution Treatises in Context

The myriad treatises devoted to the skill of musical ornamentation published in Italy between 1535 and 1620 are an important, intriguing and unique constellation of primary sources. Despite this,they have yet to be satisfactorily placed in any wider cultural context, an omission which means
we do not yet have a clear understanding of their purpose, function and impact: all vital questions for both musicologists and musicians working on this era. My research will focus on these research lacunae.The publications in question include (amongst others) Silvestro Ganassi's Opera intitulata Fontegara (Venice, 1535), Girolamo Dalla Casa's Il vero modo di diminuir (Venice, 1584), Giovanni Battista Bovicelli's Regole et passaggi di musica (Venice, 1594), and Francesco Rognoni's Selva di varii passaggi (Milan, 1620). Such books were published with the primary stated aim of teaching the art of ornamentation - a necessary skill for any professional musician at that time. Despite the interconnected nature of these books they are seldom considered as a corpus, and missing from most discussion is a consideration of their meaning and status in a wider musical and cultural context. Through understanding these wider issues will we be able to establish the practical and theoretical impact of such treatises. I will begin my enquiries by asking: who were these books for? who bought them and where? are they documenting an actual performance style, or representing an ideal? In other words: who had the intellectual ability, economic power and practical opportunity to buy and use these treatises? Taking the books at face value, it appears obvious they were aimed (at least in part) at aspiring professional musicians. There are several assumptions involved in that theory that require examination however, such as: could musicians really afford these books? were professional musicians even routinely literate? and crucially, is there any evidence that such books formed part of the educational curriculum of aspiring professional musicians?
Many boys received musical education from religious establishments that needed choristers. Such institutions may have had the financial means to procure treatises, but it is a risk to assume they routinely did so and then taught from them. Another route to becoming a professional musician in Italy was as a member of the piffari - civic musicians equivalent to the English Town Waits. The fact we routinely see the same family names finding employment in these bands across generations strongly suggests a father-to-son apprenticeship system. If boys tended to be born into the piffaro tradition and received training from fathers, uncles and brothers, that leaves little room for the widespread use of expensive books as pedagogical tools. I will test that assumption by investigating evidence relating to the education of piffari players. Professional musicians aside, another major target audience (perhaps the major target audience) for these treatises could have been the newly literate, affluent and culturally-aware middle classes. What evidence is there that links the books with such people, or with the activities of the intellectual academies that were springing up in many Italian towns? Ancillary questions such as these need to be addressed to satisfactorily evaluate the contents of the treatises themselves. To identify the users of these books, I will pursue research areas such as: Studies from other disciplines including print, reading and book culture in Early Modern Italy. This will help establish an understanding of the marketplace and environment (both business and intellectual) for the treatises. Archival study of surviving documents such as sixteenth-century Italian printers' and booksellers' stock catalogues for evidence of the cost of such books. This data will be vital when assessing a realistic readership. Study of music education, particularly in religious establishments known to have educated boys in music.