Spaces for Musical Performance in Seventeenth-Century Roman Residences

This chapter investigates the locations and modes of musical performance in the residences of the nobility in seventeenth-century Rome, indicating the differences between this period and the Renaissance. In particular, instances of music-making in the courts of princes and cardinals are identified and described, in relation to considerations of etiquette, social conventions and anthropology. This research, based on first-hand documentary research in the archives of Roman noble families, has revealed unexpected locations for music-making, which cannot always justify in terms of acoustic or aesthetic reasons. Particular attention is paid to the places where instruments were stored, as recorded in inventories, and their typology.