The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Gregory the Great, for whom the

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

is named, and

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She b ...

, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of music. Since 2005 it has been headquartered at the

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...

designed Parco della Musica in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. It was founded as a "congregation", or "confraternity", and over the centuries has grown from a forum for local musicians and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s to an internationally acclaimed academy active in music scholarship (with 100 prominent music

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

forming the body of the Accademia), music education (in its role as a conservatory) and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

(with an active choir and a symphony orchestra, the

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia) is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in ...

). The category of alumni of the associated conservatory (which in 1919 succeeded a ''liceo'') includes many noted composers and performers.

History

The first seat of the Congregation from 1585–1622 was the church of Santa Maria ad Martires, better known as the

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

. Successive relocations were to the church of San Paolino alla Colonna (1622–52),

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rione, devoted to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia (early 3rd century AD). History The first church on this site was founded probably in the 3rd century, by Pop ...

(1652–61), San Nicola dei Cesarini (1661–1663), Chiesa della Maddalena (1663–85), and, finally, San Carlo ai Catinari in 1685. Academy santa cecilia musicians

During the first century of existence, the Congregation was the

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

of a number of prominent musicians and composers of the day, including Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. The institution in that period was often in rivalry with the other important musical organization of Papal Rome of the day, the Sistine Choir. Rivalry centred on the rights to control access to the musical profession, to train musicians, and to publish music. The rivalry never really ended and can be said to have lasted through the entire existence of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, that is, until 1870, when the "temporal power of the Church" was ended by military action of the new nation state of Italy. The early 18th century is considered to have been a particularly glorious time for the Accademia. Among names associated with the organization during that period are Arcangelo Corelli,

Alessandro Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

and

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

, and

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

. In 1716,

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

decreed that all musicians practising their profession in Rome were required to become members of the Congregation. The Accademia suspended operations during the revolutionary period of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

but opened regularly again in 1822 a few years after the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

brought about by the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

. The years between that reopening and the end of the Papal States in 1870 were ones of great change. The organization opened its membership to hitherto excluded categories, such as dancers, poets, music historians, musical instrument makers, and music publishers. In 1838, the Congregation of Santa Cecilia was officially proclaimed an Academy and then a Papal Academy. The list of active and honorary members of the Accademia during that period is formidable and includes Cherubini, Mercadante,

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

, Paganini, Auber, Liszt,

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

, Berlioz, Gounod, and Meyerbeer. Among the crowned heads of Europe who were honorary members was

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. After the unification of Italy, the Accademia reestablished itself with the formation of a permanent symphony orchestra and choir, beginning in 1895. It went from being the seat of a

Liceo The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

musicale—a music "high school"—to being a full-blown conservatory; also, it hosts the "Eleonora Duse" Drama School, as well as a centre for experimental cinema. The most recent innovation has been the digitisation and cataloguing of centuries of musical documents—including an important collection of traditional music in the ethnomusicological archives—and their preservation and eventual display in the Accademia's

multimedia library A multimedia library is a public institution functioning as a library, containing not only paper and electronic books, newspapers and magazines, but also multimedia materials like videos (movies, documentaries) and sound recordings (music, audio b ...

and

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

also available to the public online. The Accademia also maintains a musical instruments

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

(the MUSA).

Alumni

* Paolo Aralla *

Gaqo Çako Gaqo Çako (24 January 1935 – 1 August 2018) was an Albanian operatic tenor, awarded with the People's Artist of Albania title. He has been ranked among the best opera singers of Albania, along with Ramiz Kovaçi and Mentor Xhemali. Career � ...

* Alfredo Costa * Franco Donatoni *

Ferenc Farkas Ferenc Farkas (; 15 December 1905 – 10 October 2000) was a Hungarian composer. Biography Born into a musical family (his father played the cimbalom and his mother played the piano) in Nagykanizsa, Farkas began his musical studies in Budape ...

* Jorgjia Filçe-Truja *

Beniamino Gigli Beniamino Gigli ( , ; 20 March 1890 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian opera singer (lyric tenor). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation. Early life Gigli was born in Recanati, in the Marche, the son of a shoem ...

* Aristodemo Giorgini *

Aurelio Giorni Aurelio Carlo Pietro Teodoro Giorni (15 September 1895 – 23 September 1938) was an Italian-American pianist and composer. After immigrating to the United States in 1914, he toured the nation as a soloist and with the Elshuco Trio. He composed ...

Gaetano Giuffrè Gaetano Giuffrè (born Corfu, 14 September 1918 – 8 January 2018) was an Italian-Greek-Swiss composer and maestro whose father was Giovanni Giuffrè, also a composer and maestro born in Corfu, Greece. Biography Born into a musical family, Gi ...

* Preng Jakova * Ramiz Kovaçi *

Sylvia Kersenbaum Sylvia Haydée Kersenbaum (born 27 December 1941) is an Argentine pianist, composer and teacher. Among other things, she is recognized for performing the complete cycle of 32 Beethoven piano sonatas twice (in 1989–1990 and 2003–2004), and her ...

* Giorgio Magnanensi *

Hersi Matmuja Hersjana Matmuja (born 1 February 1990), also known as Hersi Matmuja or simply Hersi, is an Albanian singer and songwriter. After winning the 52nd edition of Festivali i Këngës, she represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. L ...

Anna Moffo Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006) was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric- coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agil ...

Bruno Nicolai Bruno Nicolai (20 May 1926 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film music composer, orchestra director and musical editor most active in the 1960s through the 1980s. While studying piano and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, ...

Piero Niro Piero Niro (born 1957) is an Italian composer, classical pianist, and academic specialising in the philosophy of music and aesthetics. Niro was born in Baranello in the southern Italian region of Molise and initially studied piano and compositi ...

Carlo Peroni Carlo Peroni (29 November 1929 – 13 December 2011), also known as Perogatt, was an Italian comic book artist. Born in Senigallia, Ancona, Peroni started his career in 1946 as a restorer and an icon painter. In 1948 he started collaborating w ...

* Zoltán Peskó *

Franco Piersanti Franco Piersanti (born 12 January 1950) is an Italian composer and conductor. Born in Rome, Piersanti graduated in double bass at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he studied composition under the guidance of Armando Renzi and conducting unde ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

* Diogenes Rivas *

Sonya Scarlet Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely a ...

* Victor Togni

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Music schools in Italy 1585 establishments in Italy Education in Rome Learned societies of Italy Educational institutions established in the 1580s