The salterio was used in church music in Rome by Girolamo Chiti, maestro di cappella of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, during the 1720s and 1730s.
Instruments
The salterio, a type of instrument found globally, is the specifically Italian and Spanish expression of the dulcimer family.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Baldassare Galuppi, a famous Italian opera composer, defined good music as having 'vaghezza, chiarezza e buona modulazione' (beauty, clarity, and fine melody).
Historical Context
A salterio was purchased for Vivaldi's famous female orchestra in the Ospedale della Pièta in Venice as early as 1706.
Instruments
Many names for the salterio instrument type derive from the Greek 'psalterion', meaning 'to pluck or play on a stringed instrument'.
Compositional Technique
Salterii were either plucked with fingertips, fingernails, or picks, or struck with hammers, with both techniques described in Filippo Bonanni's Gabinetto armonico (1722).
Instruments
The salterio was extremely popular in academies for young noblemen throughout Italy in the 18th century, with many surviving instruments being richly decorated.
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