Music in seventeenth-century feminine convents in Northern Italy.
The female monasteries and convents were major centers of culture and the arts throughout the entire Early Modern period. The majority of the nuns, coming from the most noble and powerful families, found in art not only a privileged form of divine worship and an expression of their devotion, but also – and perhaps above all – a solace and refuge from the sorrows of a frequently forced seclusion, which removed them forever from family and social life. Their sensibility, heightened by the devotional reading typical of the Baroque era – mystical and rapturous – was expressed in works that were predominantly meditative, contemplative, or plaintive in character, favoring a language evocative of the most intimate and delicate feelings, and reflecting a predominantly emotional and individual relationship with the sacred sphere. The early seventeenth century witnessed what was perhaps the greatest revolution in the history of music. The discovery of accompanied monody and the invention of opera quickly extended their influence to sacred music, especially in northern Italy. Polyphony was never completely abandoned, but the new style – or seconda pratica – established itself as the dominant taste, allowing for a free, personal, and openly emotional and expressive approach to liturgical or devotional texts. The prevailing medium was a solo voice with basso continuo accompaniment (entrusted to a harmonic instrument), although the combination of two high voices offered greater flexibility and a variety of textures, sometimes imitative, sometimes declamatory, as well as the exploration of sonorities that blended angelic elevation with a not always discreet voluptuousness, especially in poetry most affected by Baroque emotional ardour. This new style, substantially freer from the rigid rules of counterpoint, was therefore more accessible and easier to master for amateur musicians – or for those whose training in composition was less methodical, as was often the case for women, whose musical education typically focused more on performance, especially singing and keyboard instruments. In northern Italy, in cities such as Milan, Bologna, Brescia, and Venice, from the late sixteenth century onward, several nuns began to stand out in the eyes of their contemporaries, not only as virtuoso performers but also as composers. They began their musical training even before entering the cloister, and thanks to their gifts and abilities, went on to serve in leading roles in their convents – not only musical roles, such as choir directors or chapel-masters, but also frequently within the community hierarchy, as mother or master. The most distinguished among them were genuinely admired by their male colleagues, who publicly praised them, dedicated compositions to them, and copied (or plagiarised) their works. Several of them, with permission – and often with the encouragement of the ecclesiastical hierarchy or local noble patrons – published their compositions. The phenomenon of music publishing, which was then flourishing in northern Italy, not only enabled the circulation of their works over wide geographical areas, even reaching northern Europe – contrarily to handwritten copies, which rarely left the communities and were eventually forgotten or destroyed by the vicissitudes of history – but above all, the recognition of their unique musical talents. The current rediscovery and appreciation of this repertoire of great aesthetic value also makes it possible to restore and acknowledge the identity and contribution of women in the construction of Early Modern culture and, consequently, contemporary society.
— Fernando Miguel Jalôto —
26 October
Igreja do Convento de Santa Clara do Funchal
Sunday, 6.00 pm
Ludovice Ensemble
Eduarda Melo, Raquel Mendes, sopranos
Sofia Diniz, gamba viol
Fernando Miguel Jalôto, organ and direction
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
¬ Toccata Terza (Toccate e partite d’intavolatura, Libro primo, 1615/1628/1637)
Anónimo (Itália, séc. XVI/XVII)
¬ «Madre non mi far monaca» (Canzonette e madrigaletti spirituali à 2. e 3 voci, d’autori diversi. Libro VIII, 1610)
Girolamo Frescobaldi
¬ Partite sopra la Monica (1 & 2) (Toccate e partite [...] Libro primo)
Caterina Assandra (c.1590-c.1620?)
¬ «O dulcis amor Iesu» a due canti e bassi e organo (Mottetti a due e a tre voci col basso continuo [...] opera seconda, 1609)
Girolamo Frescobaldi
¬ Partite sopra la Monica (3 & 4) (Toccate e partite [...] Libro primo)
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (1602-c.1677)
¬ «O quam bonus est» a due 2 soprani e organo («si lodano le piaghe di Christo, & le mammelle della Madonna») (I Salmi a otto voci concertati, Opera Terza di donna Chiara Margarita Cozzolari, 1650)
Anónimo (França, séc. XVI)
¬ «Une jeune fillette» (Le recueil des plus belles et excellentes chansons en forme de voix de ville [...] par Jehan Chardavoine, 1576)
Claudia Francesca Rusca (1593-1676)
¬ Canzon seconda a 4 (Sacri concerti a una, due, tre, quattro, e cinque voci, con salmi, e canzoni francesi à 4 [...], 1630)
Lucretia Orsina Vizana (1590-1662)
¬ «Omnes gentes cantate Domino» a due soprani, ò tenori (Componimenti musicali de motteti concertati a una, due, tre e quattro voci e basso continuo […], 1623)
Girolamo Frescobaldi
¬ Partite sopra la Monica (5 & 6) (Toccate e partite [...] Libro primo)
Anónimo (França, séc. XVI)
¬ «Un soir après complie» (Le recueil des plus belles et excellentes [...])
Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704)
¬ «Salve o preclara Deipara» a canto solo (Mottetti a voce sola e basso continuo, 1695)
William Young (ca.1625–1662)
¬ [Divisions «sopra la Monica»] (Ms. Goëss, Schloss Ebenthal / Ms. Durh.Ms.Mus.D.10, Durham Cathedral Library)
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani
¬ «Quis mihi det calicem bibere Domini» a voce sola (Scherzi di sacra melodia a voce sola [...], 1648)
Anónimo (França, séc. XVII/XVIII)
¬ «Une jeune pucelle» (Grande Bible des Noëls [...], 1699 / Noëls ou cantiques nouveaux [...], 1741)
Girolamo Frescobaldi
¬ Partite sopra la Monica (7 & 8) (Toccate e partite [...] Libro primo)
Lucretia Orsina Vizana
¬ «Ornaverunt faciem templi» a due soprani, ò tenori (Componimenti musicali...)
Soeur Cécile
¬ Courante [sic] [Sarabande avec doubles] de Soeur Cécile (Mary & Elizabeth Rope manuscript, Newberry Library, Chicago)
Anónimo (França, séc. XVII)
¬ «Bienheureuse est une âme» (La pieuse alouëtte avec son tirelire. Le petit cors, & plumes de nótre alouëtte, sont chansons spirituëlles [...]. Valenciennes, 1619)
Isabella Leonarda
¬ «Bonum est confiteri Domino» a due canti, ò tenori (Mottetti a una, due, tre e quattro voci e alcuni con due violini, Opera VIII. Bolonha, 1677)
Girolamo Frescobaldi
¬ Partite sopra la Monica (9 & 10) (Toccate e partite [...] Libro primo)
Claudia Francesca Rusca
¬ «Ego dormio» a due soprani o tenori e organo (Sacri concerti [...])
Girolamo Frescobaldi
¬ Partite sopra la Monica (11) (Toccate e partite [...] Libro primo)
Anónimo / Ludwig Helmbold (1532-1598)
¬ «Von Gott will ich nicht laßen» (Christliche und tröstliche Tischgesang [...], 1572)
