Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers elite and working class music practices together with indoor and outdoor performances, but also sound and noise, hoping to contribute to paint a more nuanced and complex picture of the soundscapes of early modern Rome. It deals with musical performances, some focus on specific aspects of the Roman soundscape, or are even intentionally “silent,” dealing with visual arts and architecture in their performative and theatrical aspects. The book explores the soundscape of early modern Rome using Grazioso Uberti’s Contrasto musico as a “roadmap” of the city. It focuses on the Sienese family of the Chigi and on the ways in which they imported Roman operas to Siena while recreating and assimilating Roman models of space in their self-fashioning through the use of visual elements, paintings and sculptures.