«Et iusti intrabunt in eam». Committenza ottoboniana, macchine e musiche per la festa delle Quaranta ore (1690 – 1713)

In the financial records of Cardinal Ottoboni’s Computisteria, preserved at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, there are numerous references to ‘macchine’ for the Feast of the Quaranta Ore. This machinery was built in the church of San Lozenzo in Damaso, inside the Palazzo della Cancelleria, where the cardinal resided at the time. That Feast, as it is well known, constituted a sort of sacred equivalent to the Roman Carnival, a ‘marathon’ of ceremonies with music for the display of the consecrated Host, opening with the presence of the pope. For those solemnities Cardinal Ottoboni employed large forces. This essay discusses some hypotheses on the musical repertories used in those ceremonies, and offers some information on the gigantic machinery conceived by Ottoboni himself, based on subjects such as Constantine’s Vision of the Cross (1692), St. Francis of Assisi (1693), the Heavenly Jerusalem (for the Jubilee of 1700).
The machinery constituted a real ephemeral theater, with a proscenium, scenes and machinery; after their use they were reutilized for staging of later events and performances, such as open-air serenades. For those ceremonies raisers were built to host singers and instrumentalists; their dimensions and place within the church are indicated in the article. This essay also includes the list of performers of the vocal and instrumental music for the Quarant’Ore, directed by Pitoni and Corelli; performance practice is also investigated as well as the relationship between music and machinery. Finally, the essay reconstructs a view on the sacred theater in Rome at the time and, in particular, on the entourage connected with Arcangelo Corelli.