Music-Venice. The words used to be almost synonymous: There was a time when music poured from churches and hospitalsÑyes, hospitals. Hospitals were part musical academies, as well as places where the poor and destitute could go to live or die while listening to heavenly chants and choruses. Music making was an essential ingredient of the great charitable hospitals of the Republic of Venice, as well as a vital part of celebrations at churches. People traveled from all over Europe to attend concerts at VeniceÕs hospitals, convents, and churches.

Now, while sitting at my desk, I often hear someone playing some chords on the piano, or a singer accompanied by a flute, or the children at the school next door singing Beethoven's Hymn to Joy.

One Friday evening I went to the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo to hear a visiting studentsÕ choir from Germany. It was free of charge, and the audience was a mix of proud parents, curious tourists, and locals.

The church of San Giovanni e Paolo, which lies in the campo of the same name, is attached at a right angle to the former Scuola Grande di San Marco, now the civic hospital of Venice (picture in my last blog). The campo is second only to the Piazza San Marco in importance, and the Basilica was a favorite burial places of the Doges.

That night, the choir sang skillfully, with an excellent guest soprano, all happy to perform in this extraordinary venue. The acoustics are phenomenal, the beauty daunting. I gazed around at the three naves, the Madonna at the altar, the 15^{th century stained glass windows, seemingly alive, pulsating with the events that have occurred in this churchÑand all over Venice.}