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TOC
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In the afternoon of the same day I
went to the hospital de' Mendicanti, for
orphan girls, who are taught to sing and
play, and on Sundays and festivals they
sing divine service in chorus. Signor
Bertoni is the present Maestro di Capella.
There was a hymn performed with solos
and chorusses, and a mottetto a voce sola,
which last was very well performed, par-
ticularly an accompanied recitative, which
was pronounced with great force and
energy. Upon the whole, the composi-
tions had some pretty passages, mixed
with others that were not very new. The
subjects of the fugues and chorusses were
trite, and but slightly put together. The
girls here I thought accompanied the voices
better than at the PietĖ: as the chorusses
are wholly made up of female voices,
they are never in more than three parts,
often only in two; but these, when re-
inforced by the instruments, have such
an effect, that the full complement to the
chords is not missed, and the melody is
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