Sacred Music of Baldassare Galuppi in the Context of Eigtheenth Century Venetian Culture, with an Emphasis on Music Written for the Mendicanti and the Incurabili

This dissertation examines selected sacred music of Baldassare Galuppi (1706-85) in the wider context of Venetian culture and explores problems of questionable attribution arising from Galuppi's popularity in Venice and abroad. Galuppi was famous and influential as an opera composer, but he also spent much of his career working in Venetian religious institutions. Background is established through a short exploration of the government, society, economic situation, and general musical landscape of Venice in the eighteenth century. Particular attention is paid to two of the ospedali, the Mendicanti and the Incurabili, where Galuppi was employed for much of his life. Several autograph or reliably attributed works are examined in the context of the institutions for which they were written and with regard to Galuppi's compositional technique. The pieces examined are drawn from the genres of the oratorio and the motet. Detailed description is provided for the oratorio Adamo and for three autograph motet manuscripts, including a 1757 Confitebor breve and two partial Laudate pueri settings from the 1770s, which may be related. Additional autographs are referenced as needed. The above information is then applied to a set of questionable works, a collection of solo motets allegedly by Galuppi and presumably originally intended for the Mendicanti, that was obtained by the Dresden court chapel. Several of these motets are known to be by other composers, and there is reason to question the remainder. All were supplied by the Venetian priest and music copyist Iseppo Baldan, who is notorious for falsifying attributions. Transcriptions are provided of the three autograph motets and the eight solo motets that are discussed.