JAVS Fall 2022

Feature Article

When the pandemic hit in 2020, like so many other string players, I pulled out my solo Bach. Not only the cello suites but also the violin sonatas and partitas—all transcriptions for viola. Even before the pandemic, I was questioning how to engage non-musicians in ‘old’ music. After researching innovative concert ideas, I realized that fun, entertaining, relatable dialogue before the music is the most e ective way to build a link between the audience and the performer. So, I did a deep dive into 18th century music—especially Bach—with the vague idea of finding information that would be interesting as a pre-performance talk. Relatively quickly I stumbled across several women composers of the 18th century; I was intrigued. While I love Baroque music, the reality is: there just wasn’t much written for the viola during this period— especially compared to what is available for violinists and cellists. My goal was to transcribe some of these women composer’s largely unknown music for viola. I quickly found myself drawn to one composer: Anna Bon. Researching Anna Anna was only four years old when her father, Girolamo, enrolled her as a music student at the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice, Italy. This was unusually young for the Pieta to accept paying or scholarship students. The youngest students were normally six or seven years old. An exception was probably made because both Anna’s parents were well-known musicians. In a letter dated March 4th, 1743, Maestra Candida della Viola would have the “privilege of training Anna, daughter of Girolamo Bon and Rosa Ruinati Bon. Girolamo Bon is a painter in the service and pay of the court of Moscow, where his wife is also well and happy.” 1 This is a somewhat ironic depiction of the couple’s employment because Rosa was also employed by the Court of Moscow as a singer and her pay was substantially higher than that of her husband. Anna Bon di Venezia by Becky May

move from Venice to St. Petersburg. Their theater troupe was to perform at the Russian Court, Rosa as a singer and Girolamo as director, architect, and set designer. St.Petersburg newspaper articles from the time praise Girolamo’s elaborate set designs and Rosa’s singing. According to court records, Rosa was paid 900 rubles while Girolamo was paid only 500 rubles. 2 When Tzarina Anna Ivonovna died in February 1738, the theater troupe was dissolved, and they all made the three month trip back to Italy. The timing of this worked well for Rosa and Girolamo—Rosa was pregnant. Anna was born on August 10th, 1738, in Bologna, Italy. Rosa was from Bologna and her family still lived there. But the Bon family did not stay in Italy for long. The new Tzarina of Russia, Catherine the Great, wanted the Italian musicians to come back to Russia. It is not known if Anna stayed in Italy with relatives or traveled with her parents back to Russia. Documents show both Rosa and Girolamo involved with the coronation celebrations in Moscow in 1742; the newly built Opera House was decorated and painted by Girolamo, and Rosa is listed as one of the title singers. 3 For unknown reasons, it was decided that Anna should be enrolled at the Pieta in 1743. This was several years after Vivaldi had left employment at the Pieta. She is listed in the Pieta records as the youngest student of Maestra Candida della Viola. Candida would have been a student of Vivaldi. Orphan girls at the Ospedali were given their primary instrument as a last name. Anna learned viola, harpsichord, singing, music theory, and composition while there. There were four Ospedali in Venice, but the Pieta where Anna was enrolled is subjectively the most famous. Run by the city government and funded by interest income from the city’s capital, the Ospedali were Venice’s answer to taking care of the orphans, the poor, and the sick of their society. Although the Ospedali were run similarly

Eight years earlier, both Rosa and Girolamo were recruited by the Russian Tzarina Anna Ivonovna to

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 2, Fall 2022