Music collections in Pistoia show a chronological profile of the musical production of the city.[1]
The first testimonies were related to the sacred performances of the Passion of Christ which were located in the Loggia del Giuramento, and were a central moment in the life of the citizens because the entire population was involved in the spectacular staging.[3] Beginning in the 1500s, the Chappell of the Cathedral became the main musical organization, next to the single parishes and churches of the Dominican order and of San Filippo, the latter attended by nobility. Starting in the 1600s, the Rospigliosi family was central to the music scene in Pistoia,[4] together with Melani and Pasquini. With their donations they succeeded in ensuring that the Chappell always continued to excel.[3] In this period, the dynasties of composers Gherardeschi and Brunetti, who dominated the music in Pistoia even in the 1700s, were affirmed. The entire activity of the Chappell and the works of its masters, made up of compositions from scratch such as the performance and collection of the works of other composers, has been merged, and is today available for consult, in the preserved documents of the Biliotheca Musicalis of the Archive of the Chapter[2][5] and at the Forteguerriana Library (Biblioteca Forteguerriana),[6] while the materials produced by the single parishes are today found in the State Archive (Archivio di Stato),[7] in the Leoniana Library at the Vescovile Seminary,[8] the Old Library of Canonici (today at the Archive of the Chapter),[9] and at the Dominican Library.[10]
Beginning in the 1600s, the large nobile families also began to patron the production of lyric opera, especially in the academic scene (The Accademia dei Risvegliati constructed its theater in 1677). Melani made their descendants acquire musical skills: Jacopo, Alessandro and Atto became esteemed composers and musicians in Italy and in France.[3] However, the Rospigliosi family is still the family that left the greatest trace and documentation of operatic activities in Pistoia in the 1600s and on: the Rospigliosi Collection (today divided between the Archive of the Chapter and the Forteguerriana Library) attests to the great musical vitality of the citizens with a collection of music of the most influential composers in the world, performed in Pistoia until the end of the 1800s, which was the century in which the Rospigliosi salon, where many celebrities gathered, was one of the major cultural centers at the local level..[11][12][13] Parallel to the secular production, we cannot forget the production of sacred music (as is attested by the Music Collection of the Seminary,[14] the Collection of the Parish of the Madonna dell'Umiltà (Mary of Umility),[15] and the musical documents of the Fabroniana Library, rich in theoretical and historical texts that were especially pertinent to the 1700s[16]). A composer of the 1800s, Teodulo Mabellini, for example, wrote both lyric operas and sacred music, and some of his compositions are today preserved as autographs in the Forteguerriana Library and in the Archive of the Chapter (see the Sources of Mabellini). In the 1800s, the Borgognoni Philharmonic and the School of Music and Dance were founded (later named Mabellini). The Philharmonic conducted an intense production of music and diffusion of sophisticated music, thanks to the many band arrangements, today preserved in their archive.[17] The School is still functioning today.[18][19] Beginning in the 1900s, the Philharmonic also accompanied the caffé concerto (the music produced for this performances are now at the Globo Cinema)[20] and are still active today (the archive of the director Giuseppe Da Prato have documented the production of the band since 1973).[21] In the 1900s, the musical possessions of Pistoia were enriched by the donations of many private citizens, who entrusted their books regarding music to the Forteguerriana Library (Chiappelli Collectioni,[22] Martini Collection,[23] Bellini Collection[24]), to the Leoniana Library at the Seminary (Mazzei Collection[25] and the Collection of Aldo Pacini, a collector, who possessed some autographs and antique printed editions[26]). An exceptional testimony of music of the 1900s is at the Mabellini School of Music and Dance: the autographed arrangements by Carlo Savina for two concerts in Pistoia of the music of Nino Rota performed with the Orchestra of Rome of RAI in 1981.[27]