Convents and their Music in late 17th- and 18th-Century Vienna

FAIN: FT-54772-07

Janet Kathleen Page
University of Memphis (Memphis, TN 38152-0001)

This project examines musical life in Viennese convents between 1688 and 1783. Besides music for mass and the hours, nuns performed special music on patron saints' days and also for events such as clothing ceremonies. Plays, oratorios, and serenades were performed for members of the Imperial family, and served to promote Habsburg aims and policies. The convents best known for music were St. Jacob and St. Ursula; the nuns there were accomplished players on a variety of instruments. Archival documents, musical scores, libretti, and contemporary accounts provide evidence of this rich but little known tradition. This study provides a new perspective on the role of music in 18th-century Viennese life.