Organi e organisti nella Ca’ granda e nelle chiese ospedaliere di Milano fra XVI e XIX secolo

In the modern era, charity towards the poor people in the city of Milan was not provided just by medical care and subsistence. The beauty of art and music during the liturgies celebrated in the churches annexed to hospitals, conservatories and charities, were a balsam for both the soul and the body. This essay considers the history of music, organs and organists in the churches managed by the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan from the era of S. Carlo Borromeo to the verge of WWI: the church of SS. Annunciata alla Ca’ Granda, with an organ tradition dating from the one by Michelangelo Valvassori to the complete rebuilt by Pietro Bernasconi in 1889, the foppone of S. Michele ai Nuovi Sepolcri (today known as Rotonda della Besana), the Pia casa of S. Caterina alla Ruota and the church of S. Maria alla Senavra in the Casa de’ Pazzi.