Editing and Performance Issues in Oratorio per la Settimana Santa from the Barberini Collection of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

Abstract

Housed among the anonymous manuscripts in the Barberini Collection of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Oratorio per la Settimana Santa is a prototypical example of oratorio volgare (Italian-language oratorio) from mid-seventeenth-century Rome. Written in two parts and scored for two violins, continuo, three- and five-part chorus, and soli, this oratorio was once attributed to Luigi Rossi (c.1598-1653) and was believed to be composed during his service to the Barberini family prior to their departure from Rome in 1645, though this attribution has since been called into question. Regardless, Oratorio per la Settimana Santa holds an important place in the development of the Roman oratorio as a genre as well as that of the Passion, specifically the Passion oratorio. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that Oratorio per la Settimana Santa can be made accessible to modern choral-instrumental ensembles through the creation of an historically informed performance edition of the work that incorporates the latest scholarship on editorial and performing practices of the early Baroque. This document provides the background information that is most relevant to the creation of the edition and an informed performance. As well, it offers a discussion of the editorial practices that were used in the creation of the edition and a presentation of select performance-practice considerations that should be taken into account when producing a performance of the oratorio. The document culminates with a performance edition of Oratorio per la Settimana Santa in its entirety with accompanying edition notes.