Awash with the current of the Counter-Reformation, Rome at the very end of the 16th century was a magnet which gave rise to the largest workshop in Europe. Animated by an imperious evangelical desire, both mystic and popular, this ambition created the face of the baroque city. Without counting the treasures of antiquity, Rome had been orchestrating her ascent since the political success of the Popes of the Renaissance. Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giulio Romano, Sansovino, the Sangallo, Domenico Fontana and Vignola had heralded the myopic migration of great artists to the city.

At the dawn of the Seicento, the attraction of Rome had not faded. Caravaggio arrived in the year in which Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini, whose family would be the patrons of his works, was elected (30th January 1592). The splendid metropolis still attracted all kinds of artists from all disciplines: the Carracci brothers, Maderno, Borromini and then Bernini bursting forth in the middle of the century would confer upon the city their enchanting form. In the same way as the dome of the cathedral of Florence built by Brunelleschi had crystallised the spring of the renaissance, one sees in the spectacular termination of the dome of St Peter’s by Giacomo della Porta in 1593 the triumphant symbol of the Roman baroque, in which power and grandeur were intended to proclaim the brilliance of Christianity restored in the face of a Europe affected by the Reformation.

Thanks to her very numerous religious foundations, Rome was headquarters of the pontifical institutions. It is often forgotten that alongside the architects and painters lay the heart of the musical liturgy of the Christian universe. All the more since it was a time of profound changes. The death, in 1594, of Palestrina, who had directed the Cappella Giulia since 1571, and of Lassus, at Munich, marked the closing of an era: that of polyphony and also the twilight of mannerist culture. Symbolically, music was written for St. Peter’s according to Palestrinian orthodoxy which still no one dared truly to transgress (especially since the Council of Trent had declared Palestrina’s style stilo ecclesiastico).

Such transgression only occurred in very particular ways in the oratories, places intended for musical spiritual exercises (the most celebrated was the Oratory of San Crocifisso, where Carissimi would reign), according to the evangelical rules established by Philip Neri in 1575.

The rising number of churches in Rome testifies to fervent activity. Liturgical and pedagogical foundations gave rise to very active centres. The Jesuit colleges, like the Venetian ospedale and Neapolitan conservatories, took care of the training of musicians. Education followed the sacred authors which thus favoured the spreading of the Catholic dogma. The most prestigious of all, the institution of the Collegium Germanicum and the basilica of St. Apollinare, to which it was attached, attracted young talents. Landi was a soprano there in 1595; Carissimi would be its musical director until his death.

Along with this abundant liturgy we find the concerts of the princely salons of the innumerable town palaces, particularly the activity of the cardinal-princes, whose patronage illuminates the dawn of the Seicento. Thus we complete the musical tableau of Rome. Corelli, at the end of the century (he established himself in Rome from 1675), provided the official music of the Roman sovereigns and princes. He testifies to the musical activity which hadn’t declined since the beginning of the century. If in each period Rome renewed herself, she remained in spite of the changes of style, a centre of education. No artist who wished to realise his talent and achieve glory, could ignore it. The twilight of the renaissance gave birth to a new world. Soon, with the birth of the Roman oratorio, above all its blossoming between 1630 and 1650, new forms profiting from a reformed musical language would make their decisive contribution.