Giovanni Rovetta, «uno spirito quasi divino, tutto lume in nere et acute note espresso»

The article focuses on some episodes from the biography of the Venetian composer Giovanni Rovetta. There is a strong probability that the roots of the family came from the town by the same name, up on the mountains above Bergamo; at any rate, they never attained the Venetian citizenship, and resided in a quarter inhabited by many families coming from those territories, and busy in weaving (wool) production and trade.
His grandfather Alberto and his father Giacomo were professional violin players in the scuole and in the churches of Venice in the last decades of Sixteenth century, and Giacomo became a prominent instrumentalist in the ducal chapel of St. Mark’s in the earliest decades of Sixteenth century. He was also ‘piffero del Doge’, one of the musicians who accompanied the doge and the Signoria in their exits outside of the ducal palace and church, playing the large ceremonial trumpets often depicted in contemporary paintings and prints.
His son Giovanni was instrumentalist of the ducal chapel from sometimes before 1614.
In 1615-1616 the western mainland territory of Venice was under the threat of invasion from  Milanese-Spanish state; this originated the meeting of Federico Cavalli, Venetian ruler of Crema, and Antonio Lando, send by Venice state to inspect the cities and towns open to the military attack.
They attended together the festive musical performances in Crema cathedral, performed for sure by the organist and master of the cathedral chapel, Giovanni Battista Caletti, and by his sons Luca Bruno and Pier Francesco (both of them were trained by their father as soprano boy soloists). At the end of his biennial charge in Crema, Federico Cavalli took whit him the two young singers; a few month later, (Pier) Francesco Caletti was engaged as soloist soprano boy in St. Mark’s musical chapel (perhaps the only one boy singer ever to be registered – and paid – as regular {permanent} member of that ensemble), and later undertook a successful musical career, fostered by his patron name, that is Francesco Cavalli.
If compared to the strong patronage link between Cavalli and Caletti-Bruni families, that of Giovanni Rovetta with the noble family of Lando was much more discreet and disguised;  nonetheless it marked several important steps in his career and his life; Girolamo Lando, son of Antonio, funded the performances of Giovanni Rovetta’s only opera Ercole in Lidia (1645, music lost); Rovetta came along with Girolamo to the latter’s votive trip to Loreto (1623).
The meeting of the patrons of the Caletti and Rovetta musical families originated their friendliness, attested by the letter that Giovanni Rovetta wrote in 1627, to Francesco’s father, Giovanni Battista Caletti – Giovanni proposes his sister Elena as Francesco’s bride-to-be.
In 1617 Giovanni was elected to two minor tasks in the basilica of St. Mark’s: as guardian of the procuratia (the Venetian institution that cared for economical matters of the state church of St. Mark’s), and of the portelle (i.e. of the doors leading to the upper corridors of the basilica). The two judicial proceedings that saw him involved before the procuratia provide interesting clues for the performance practices of that times at St. Mark’s.
After his above mentioned period as instrumentalist at St. Mark’s, Giovanni was elected singer there – although with some music coordination tasks, rather than for vocal performance – in 1623, then vice-master in 1627 (in this capacity he was able to replace Claudio Monteverdi, now elderly and also occasionally busy with commissions from Venetian noblemen and Italian or foreign princes), and eventually master, from 1644 until his death.
His years as vice-master of the chapel were the most fruitful of his life: he was very active in musical feasts outside the basilica as well, in scuole and churches of Venices, and many prints containing his compositions were published by the Venetian musical printers.
His election to chapel master was not to be unopposed: the procuratori thought seriously of holding a real contest, and were directed to choose amongst some Roman candidates (the Venetian state, for some years, never missed an opportunity to try to reconnect the papacy, especially to obtain military and financial aid for their long and exhausting war against the Turks).
That eventuality went to none (as Benevoli was asking for high fee and certainty of the position, and Romano Micheli gave up soon later), and Giovanni went elected by option.
The period of Rovetta tenure as chapel master (1644-1668) was not marked by memorable events; with two memorials he fixed the number of singers for each register (eight for each soprano, alto, tenor and bass voice register), and lamented the increase of the festive days, when singers were obliged to be present.
The wrong assumption that Rovetta was a priest in the Venetian church of S. Silvestro (most probably he was not even a ecclesiastic) was perhaps due to the fact that, in his last will, he ordered to be buried in that church, in the same chest of his parent, the priest Girolamo Cotti, brother of his father’s wife, Pasquetta Cotti (the Cottis were a wealthy family of Greeks merchants).
His nephew Giovanni Battista was born from the marriage of Giovanni’s sister, Elena, with Antonio de Grandis also known as ‘Volpe’. Indeed, Giovanni Battista is better known nowadays with his father’s nickname, i.e. Giovanni Battista Volpe, or even as ‘Rovettino’ – the latter a diminutive which obviously would have both to refer and to distinguish him from his uncle Giovanni. He was to become a distinguished composer and member of the ducal chapel, and indeed became in turn the master in 1690.
The article closes with sections devoted to other possible members of the family (Antonio, Vito, and Nazario Rovetta), and the spreading of Giovanni Rovetta’s fame outside the territories dominated by Venice (especially in Germany and England).