Musical Manifestations in a Religious Context, in Madeira, in the Late Ancien Régime – The Role of Religious Orders

Abstract

Music played a highly significant role in the religious context of the Ancien Régime. Present in various religious acts – such as masses, offices, processions, and burials – it assumed particular prominence during festivities.

The secular clergy actively contributed to the promotion of musical practice through the actions of the Prelate, the Chapter, the confraternities, and the vicars and parish priests. This involvement manifested itself in the production of regulations, the promotion of musical education, the installation of organs, the appointment of organists, and the creation and dissemination of musical repertoires.

The regular clergy, both male and female, also contributed to the refinement of religious acts by promoting musical performances within conventual spaces as well as in parish and private churches. Friars were frequently called upon to provide liturgical services associated with pious obligations, religious festivities or funeral ceremonies, presenting themselves with singers, organists and, at times, musical instruments. Nuns, within their conventual environments, in addition to chants and music during masses, took care to invite musicians for the most important religious festivities.

In this context, the following pages present documentary evidence of musical manifestations associated with religious orders in Madeira, identified chiefly through the analysis of documentary fonds from Madeiran convents during the late Ancien Régime, between the last quarter of the 18^th century and the first quarter of the 19^th century.

Keywords: Ancien Régime; Musical Instruments; Madeira; Sacred Music; Religious Orders.