A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Laudi Spirituali
LAUDI SPIRITUALI. A name given to certain collections of Devotional Music, compiled for the use of the 'Laudisti'—a Religious Confraternity, instituted, at Florence, in the year 1310, and afterwards held in great estimation by S. Charles Borromeo, and S. Philip Neri.
The poetry of the 'Laudi'—some ancient specimens of which are attributed, by Crescentini, to S. Francis of Assisi—was originally written entirely in Italian, and bears no trace of classical derivation. The music to which it is adapted—inclining rather to the character of the Sacred Canzonet, than to that of the regular Hymn—was, at first, unisonous, and extremely simple; though, after a time, the Laudisti cultivated part-singing with extraordinary success.
A highly interesting MS. volume, once belonging to a company of 'Laudisti,' enrolled, in the year 1336, at the Chiesa d'Ogni Santi, at Florence, is now preserved in the Magliabecchi Library: and, from this, Dr. Burney (Hist. ii. 328) quotes a very beautiful example 'Alia Trinità beata' which, of late years, has become popular in this country, though, in all the English editions we have seen, the melody is sadly mutilated, and strikingly inferior in character to the original reading. The earliest printed collection is dated 1485. This, however, would seem to have been either unknown to, or unrecognised by, the disciples of S. Philip Neri: for, in 1565, Giovanni Animuccia, who acted as his Maestro di Capella, published a volume entitled 'Il primo libro delle Laudi,' followed by a 'Secondo libro,' of more advanced character, in 1570. These Sacred Songs, which formed the germ of the performances afterwards called Oratorios, became so popular among the youths who flocked to S. Philip for instruction, that, in 1588—seventeen years after the death of the saintly Animuccia—P. Soto thought it desirable to edit a third volume, containing unacknowledged works, for three and four Voices, by some of the greatest Composers of the age. In 1589, the same zealous editor published an amended reprint of the three volumes, consolidated into one; succeeded, in 1591 by a fourth volume, dedicated to the Duchessa d'Aquasparta. Serafino Razzi published a large collection, in 1608, and many others followed—for, at this period, almost every large town, and even many an important parish, had its own Company of Laudisti, who sang the |>oetry of Lorenzo de' Medici, Poliziano, Pulci, Bembo, Ludovico Martelli, Giambellari, Filicaia, and other celebrated writers, with undiminished interest, though, as time progressed, the character of the music sensibly deteriorated.
In the year 1770, Dr. Bumey heard the Company of Laudisti attached to the Church of S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, in Florence, sing, with excellent effect, in some street Processions, as well as in some of the Churches, from a book then just published for their use: and, however true it may be that part-singing in Italy is not what it was some centuries ago, representatives of the Confraternity are said to be still in existence, striving to do their best in a more modern style.