Valerio Bona ‘Prefetto della musica’ nel Convento di San Fermo Maggiore a Verona (ca.1614-post 1619)

The paper aims at analyzing Valerio Bona’s final years, which he spent in Verona as Prefetto della musica in the Convent of San Fermo Maggiore. The Convent was a fine example of Verona’s cultural scene, marked by the great importance of the cathedral and of the Accademia Filarmonica. The Maestri di cappella and the organists of the Accademia held the same positions in the cathedral. Given this peculiar context, the essay triesto understand Bona’s role (who came from a varied and honorable artistic career, which saw him at work in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, in the churches of S. Francesco in Vercelli and in Milan, at San Salvatore in Monferrato, in the cathedral of Mondovi and in S. Francesco in Brescia) and the characteristics of the musical works he produced in this period. The paper will focus, in particular, on the Lamentazioni per la Settimana Santa […] a due cori uguali, 1616, the only one of his works we have inherited in a complete form. The analysis of the compositions – in relation with the sad and penitential tone of the Ufficio delle Tenebre - contributes to the reflection on the performance practice of the time and on the use of instruments