Musica, potere e condizione femminile nei monasteri palermitani (secoli XVII-XVIII)

Musical activities in Palermo’s convents have so far received little scholarly attention, even though there is ample evidence of their importance. Indeed, in Palermo’s cloisters the promotion of music was able to go beyond architectural divisions and dissolve the conventional boundaries of space. Therefore, music acted as a powerful device of communication between the internal and external dimensions, as well as a means for asserting a social status which nuns and novices didn’t want to give up. However, while on the one hand the expenses for musical activities were recurring, on the other it is not easy to assess the direct contribution of the nuns to the musical practice. On the contrary, the surviving documents attest to their collaboration with professional musicians called from outside for the most important events. Despite this, it is certain that on several occasions the “beloved brides” cultivated figurative singing and instrumental practice, maintaining their previous standard of living within the cloistered walls. By discussing several examples related to 17th- and 18th-century Palermo, this paper examines the role of convent music as an additional device of assertion of female identity, as well as a means for consolidating the institutional image of public communities and families to which nuns belonged.