Frescobaldi at the Ospedale di Santo Spirito: a portfolio career in seventeenth-century Rome

Barker, Naomi J (2021). Frescobaldi at the Ospedale di Santo Spirito: a portfolio career in seventeenth-century Rome. Early Music, 49(3) pp. 395–412.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/em/caab044

Abstract

During the 1620s Girolamo Frescobaldi held the post of organist at St. Peter’s concurrently with that of organist at the Ospedale di Santo Spirito. Both jobs had substantial duties. In this article, the three main requirements of the organist at S. Spirito – to play for Mass and Vespers, the Saturday litanies and in the hospital ward at meal times – provide the means for both reconstructing part of the daily schedule for S. Spirito and tracing Frescobaldi’s activities. The identity of Nicolo Cochi who frequently signed for Frescobaldi’s salary at St. Peter’s is investigated; previously unpublished documents from the Ospedale archive and financial records are compared; and some conclusions reached as to how a musician such as Frescobaldi could successfully hold dual, if not multiple employments. At the same time, new information about liturgical practice at the Ospedale di Santo Spirito is presented.

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