The careful study of crucial moments in the musical traditions which were nurtured at the courts of the Wettin dynasty, especially the electoral courts, in the sixteenth century reveals a contextually diverse continuity of musical transfers from Italy that are relatively well-documented by sources: examples for such exchange processes are the 'Italian' transmission contexts of Friedrich III's Jena choir books, the inclusion of Italian items from electoral music collections in the prints of Georg Rhaw, the reception of light Italian music by Dresden's Hofkapellmeister of Italian origin (Antonio Scandello, Giovanni Battista Pinello di Ghirardi), as well as the triangular relationship between Florence, Dresden, and Prague in the decades around 1600. Transcending narrow, institution-centred definitions of court music, the project contemplates the significance of the interactions between the Wettin courts and Italian music culture and deepens the knowledge thereof. Studied against a broad cultural backdrop, the project unearths new sources, engages with courtly contexts which have so far remained unstudied (e. g. Weimar), and considers neglected or unknown traces of aesthetic discourses revealing an early musical Italianità.

Principal investigator

Dr. Michael Chizzali