Child Composers in the Old Conservatories

In seventeenth century Italy overcrowding violent political uprising and plague led an astonishing number of abandoned and orphaned children to overwhelm the cities. Out of the piety of private citizens and the apathy of local governments the system of <em>conservatori</em> was created to house <br>nurture and train these <em>fanciulli vaganti</em> (roaming children) to become hatters shoemakers tailors goldsmiths cabinet makers and musicians - a range of practical trades that might sustain them and enable them to contribute to society. <em>Conservatori</em> were founded across Italy from Venice and<br>Florence to Parma and Naples many specializing in a particular trade. Four music <em>conservatori</em> in Naples gained particular renown for their exceptional training of musicians both performers and composers all boys. By the eighteenth century the graduates of the Naples conservatories began to<br>spread across Europe with some 600 boys formerly in residence beginning to dominate the European musical world. Other conservatories in the country - including the Paris Conservatory - began to imitate the principles of the Naples' conservatory's training known as the <em>partimento</em> tradition. The<br>daily lessons and exercises associated with this tradition were largely lost-until author Robert Gjerdingen discovered evidence of them in the archives of conservatories across Italy and the rest of Europe. <p/>Compellingly narrated and richly illustrated <em>Child Composers in the Old Conservatory</em> follows the story of these boys as they undergo rigorous training with the conservatory's <em>maestri</em> and eventually become <em>maestri</em> themselves then moves forward in time to see the influence of partimenti in the<br>training of such composers as Claude Debussy and Colette Boyer. Advocating for the revival of <em>partimenti</em> in modern music education the book explores the tremendous potential of this tradition to enable natural musical fluency for students of all ages learning the craft today.<br>