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{{short description|Group of professional female singers in the late Renaissance court of Ferrara, Italy}} | |||
The '''''concerto delle donne''''' (''lit.'' ] of ladies) was a group of professional female singers in the late Renaissance court of ], ], renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity. The ensemble was founded by ], in 1580 and was active until the court was dissolved in 1597. ], a music publisher, praised the women as ''"virtuose giovani"'' (] youths), echoing the sentiments of contemporaneous diarists and commentators.<ref>Harris.</ref> | |||
{{italic title}} | |||
]. The excerpt displays the fast-moving ] passages in which the group specialized.]] | |||
The '''''concerto delle donne'''''{{efn|Also known as the '''''concerto di donne''''' or '''''concerto delle''''' (or '''''di''''' ) '''''dame'''''.{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=2}}|name=titles}} ({{lit.|] of ladies}}) was an ensemble of professional female singers of late ] in Italy. The term usually refers to the first and most influential group in ], which existed between 1580 and 1597.{{efn|The ''concerto delle donne'' may refer to any of the professional female singing ensembles throughout Italy during the late ]; however, it most often refers to the ensemble in ], which was the earliest and most prominent one.{{sfn|LaMay|2005|p=367}} Musicologist Laurie Stras describes them as group "the group most widely recognized as the concerto delle dame"{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=218}}}} Renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity, the Ferrarese group's core members were the sopranos ], ] and ]. | |||
The origins of the ensemble lay in an amateur group of high-placed courtiers who performed for each other within the context of the Duke's informal '']'' in the 1570s. The ensemble evolved into an all-female group of professional musicians, the ''concerto delle donne'', who performed formal concerts for members of the inner circle of the court and important visitors. Their signature style of florid, highly ornamented singing brought prestige to Ferrara and inspired composers of the time. | |||
The Duke of Ferrara ] founded a group of mostly female singers for his ] series, '']'' ({{lit.|secret music}}). These singers were exclusively noble women, such as ] and ]. In 1580, Alfonso formally established the ''concerto delle donne'' for both his wife ] and reasons of prestige. The new group included professional singers of upper-class, but not noble, backgrounds, under the direction of the composers ] and ]. Their signature style of florid, highly ornamented singing brought prestige to Ferrara and inspired composers of the time such as ], ] and ]. | |||
The ''concerto delle donne'' revolutionized the role of women in professional music, and continued the tradition of the ] court as a musical center. Word of the ladies' ensemble spread across Italy, provoking imitations in the powerful courts of the ] and ]. The founding of the ''concerto delle donne'' was the most important event in secular Italian music in the late sixteenth century; the musical innovations established in the court were important in the development of the ], and eventually the ''seconda pratica''.<ref>Pendle, pg. 83, reiterated by Newcomb 1980</ref> | |||
The ''concerto delle donne'' revolutionized the role of ], and continued the tradition of the ] court as a musical center. Word of the ladies' ensemble spread across Italy, inspiring imitations in the courts of the ] and ]. The founding of the ''concerto delle donne'' was among the most important events in the ] in the late sixteenth century Italy. The musical innovations established in the court were important in the development of the ], and eventually the '']''. | |||
==Influence== | |||
The ''concerto delle donne'' was a revolutionary musical establishment; its success took women from obscurity to "the apex of the profession".<ref>Newcomb 1986, 93</ref> Women were openly brought to court to train them as professional musicians.<ref>Newcomb 1986, 98</ref> By 1600, a woman could have a viable career as a musician, independent of her husband or father.<ref>Newcomb 1986, pg. 93</ref> | |||
==Background== | |||
Not only was the ''concerto'' a musical success, it brought Alfonso and his court international prestige, as the ladies' reputation spread throughout Italy and southern ]. It was a powerful tool of ], projecting an image of strength and affluence. The ''concerto delle donne'' was so influential and often imitated that it became a cliché of northern Italian courts.<ref>Newcomb 1986 pp 97;98;99</ref> These singers helped effect a shift in women's role in music. The new women's ensembles inspired by the ''concerto delle donne'' resulted in more positions for women as professional singers and more music for them to perform.<ref>Women in music.</ref> | |||
] was a leading center of ], which broadly covered the 15th and 16th centuries of Europe.{{sfn|Schulenberg|2000|pp=99, 103–104}} Regional courts, ruled by competing families—such as the ], ], and ]—patronized secular music immensely, commissioning compositions and forming large ensembles.{{sfn|Stolba|1994|p=190}} Although the ] style held early popularity, it was quickly overtaken by the ] in the 1520s.{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=208}} The madrigal became the most important ] genre of 16th-century Italy, and possibly the entire ]; according to ], "through the madrigal, Italy became the leader in European music for the first time in history".{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=208}} Unlike the frottola, composed exclusively by native Italians, the first leading madrigal composers were foreign ], referred to as '']'' (those from {{lit.|"over the mountains"}}), such as ] and ].{{sfn|Taruskin|2010|loc=§ "Vernacular Song Genres: Italy"}}{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=210}} | |||
At the court in ], the Duke ] formed a group of mostly female singers by at least 1577.{{sfn|Fenlon|1980|p=125}}{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}} They performed madrigals within the context of the Duke's ongoing '']'' ({{lit.|secret music}}), a regular series of ] concerts performed for a private audience.{{sfn|Morton|2022|p=156}}{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=4}} Although it is uncertain whether the group's members were amateur or professional musicians, they were noblewomen and would have attended court regardless.{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}} These singers included sisters ] and ], as well as ], and ].{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}} The professional bass singer ] also joined the ensemble.{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}} | |||
Having seen the ''concerto delle donne'' in Ferrara, Giulio Caccini created a rival group made up of his family and a pupil. This ensemble was sponsored by the ], and traveled as far abroad as Paris to perform for Maria de' Medici.<ref>Carter.</ref> ] had much success composing and singing in the style of the ''concerto delle donne''.<ref>Hitchcock.</ref> Beginning in 1585, rival groups were created in ] by the ], ] by the ], and ] by the ]. There was even a rival group in Ferrara, in the very palace where the ''concerto delle donne'' performed. This group was formed by Alfonso's sister Lucrezia d'Este, Duchess of ]. She had lived at the Este court since 1576, and shortly after Margherita's marriage to Alfonso in 1579, Alfonso and his henchmen killed Lucrezia's lover. Lucrezia was unhappy about being replaced as the matron of the house by Margherita, and understandably upset by the murder of her lover, leading to her desire to be separate from the rest of her family during her evening entertainments.<ref>Newcomb 1980 101</ref> ] was among the last composers and performers in this style, which was seen as archaic by the mid-seventeenth century.<ref>Springfels</ref> | |||
== |
==Formation== | ||
{{multiple image | |||
===Formation=== | |||
| total_width = 300 | |||
At the court in Ferrara, a collection of ladies skilled in music inspired ] and caught the Duke's interest. This group, which led to the formation of the ''concerto delle donne'', performed within the context of the Duke's '']'', a regular series of ] concerts performed for an exclusive audience.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 4</ref> To maintain secrecy, the music, composed by Luzzaschi, was not published until after the Duke's death. This preliminary group was originally made up of talented but amateur members of the court:<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 7</ref> the sisters ] and ], ], and ]. They were joined by bass ],<ref>Pendle, pg 80.</ref> who was specifically brought to the court in 1577 for his singing ability. The preliminary ensemble was active throughout the 1570s, and its membership solidified in 1577. Only later did professionals replace these original singers. | |||
| image1 = Cesare Aretusi Retrato de Alfonso II de Este, duque de Ferrara.jpg | |||
| image2 = Giovanni Bahuet Margherita Gonzaga.jpg | |||
| footer = The Duke ] (by ]) and Duchess ] (by {{ill|Jeannin Bahuet|it|lt=Jean Bahuet}} of Ferrara) | |||
}} | |||
The Duke formally established the ''concerto delle donne''{{efn|name=titles}} ({{lit.|] of ladies}}) in 1580.{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=216}} He did not announce the creation of a new professional, all-female ensemble; instead, the group infiltrated and gradually dominated the ''musica secreta'' concerts.{{sfn|Stark|1999|p=190}}{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=96}} This ensemble was created by the Duke in part to amuse his young new wife, ] who was musically-inclined herself, and in part to help the Duke achieve his artistic goals for the court.{{sfn|Ugolini|2020|p=71}}{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|pp=7, 106, 120}} Margherita's influence on the church through her brother-in-law, the cardinal ], allowed the ''concerto'' to use church assets such as the San Vito convent in Ferrara.{{sfn|Stras|2018|pp=229–230}} The first recorded performance by the professional ladies was on 20 November 1580; Brancaccio joined the new group the next month.{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}} By the 1581 ] season, they were performing together regularly.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|pp=20–21}}<!--What does this even refer to?: According to Grana, a contemporary correspondent, "Signora Machiavella , Signora Isabella, and Signora Vittoria have abandoned the field, having lost the backing of Luzzaschi".{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=11}}--> | |||
This new "consort of ladies" was viewed as an extraordinary and novel phenomenon; most witnesses did not connect the ''concerto delle donne'' with the earlier group of ladies from the 1570s.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=20}} However, modern musicologists now view the earlier group as a crucial part of the creation and development of the social and vocal genre of the ''concerto delle donne''.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=20}}{{sfn|Stark|1999|p=190}} The culture at the Italian courts of that time had a political dimension, as families aimed to present their greatness by non-violent means.{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=140}} | |||
The Duke did not announce the creation of a professional, all-female ensemble; instead, the group infiltrated and gradually dominated the ''musica secreta'', so that after the dismissal of Brancaccio for insubordination in 1583, no more male members of the ''musica secreta'' were hired.<ref>Newcomb 1986, pg 96.</ref> Even when Brancaccio was performing with the consort it was referred to as a ladies' ensemble, because women singing together was the most exciting aspect of the group. This new ensemble, the ''concerto delle donne'', was created by Alfonso in part to amuse his young new wife, ] (she was only 15 when they wed in 1579), and in part to help the Duke achieve his artistic goals for the court.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pp. 106; 20</ref> The first recorded performance by the professional ladies was on ] ]; by ] season in 1581, they were performing together regularly.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 20-21</ref> According to Grana, a contemporary correspondent, "Signora Machiavella , Signora Isabella, and Signora Vittoria have abandoned the field, having lost the backing of Luzzaschi".<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 11</ref> | |||
This new "consort of ladies" was viewed as an extraordinary and novel phenomenon; most witnesses did not connect the second period of the ''concerto delle donne'' with the group of ladies who sang in the ''musica secreta''.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 20</ref>. Today, however, the earlier group is viewed as crucial part in the creation and development of the social and vocal genre of the ''concerto delle donne''.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 20</ref> | |||
===Roster and duties=== | ===Roster and duties=== | ||
The most prominent member of the new ensemble was ], |
The most prominent member of the new ensemble was ], whose musical abilities prompted the Duke to specifically ask the Duchess to bring her from ] as part of her retinue.{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=96}} She was particularly lauded for her skill in accompanied solo singing.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=56}} Peverara was joined by ] and ], daughter of the prolific poet ].{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}} The latter wrote poems for many of the ]s which were performed by the ensemble,{{sfn|Arnold|1982|pp=253-254}} and wrote texts for the '']'' dances.{{sfn|Treadwell|2002|p=28}} The well-known singer ] was involved with the group, but modern scholars disagree on whether she sang with them or was solely as an advisor and instructor.{{sfn|Newcomb|2001}}{{sfn|Tick|2001}}{{efn|The musicologist ] believes the singer ] sang with the group, but ] says she was involved solely as an advisor and instructor.{{sfn|Newcomb|2001}}{{sfn|Tick|2001}} The musicologist Karin Pendle only says that Molza "joined the ensemble".{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}}}} Whether Molza ever performed with them or not, she was ousted from any role in the group after her affair with the composer ] came to light in 1589.{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=40}} After the dismissal of Brancaccio for insubordination in 1583, no more permanent male members of the ''musica secreta'' were hired;{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=96}} however, the ensemble occasionally sang with male singers.{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=216}} | ||
The singers |
The singers of the ''concerto delle donne'' were officially ] of the Duchess Margherita, but were hired primarily as singers.{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=80}}{{sfn|Ugolini|2020|p=71}} Despite their upper-class background, the singers would not have been welcomed into the court's inner circle had they not been such skilled performers.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=7}} D'Arco belonged to the nobility, but a minor family only. Peverara was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and Molza came from a prominent family of artists.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=11}} The musicologist Thomasin LaMay posits that the women of the ''concerti delle donne'' provided sexual favors for members of the court,{{sfn|LaMay|2002|p=49}} but there is no evidence for this, and the circumstances of their marriages and ] argues against this interpretation. The women were paid salaries and received other benefits, such as dowries and apartments in the ducal palace. Peverara received 300 '']'' a year and lodging in the ducal palace for herself, her husband, and her mother – as well as a dowry of 10,000 ''scudi'' upon her marriage.{{sfn|Knighton|Fallows|1998|p=95}} | ||
The new singers played instruments, including the ], ], and ],{{sfn|Springfels}} but focused their energies on developing vocal virtuosity.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=19}} This skill became highly prized in the mid-sixteenth century, beginning with basses like Brancaccio, but by the end of the century virtuosic bass singing went out of style, and higher voices came into vogue.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=23}} The composer ] directed and wrote music to showcase the ensemble,{{sfn|Springfels}}{{sfn|HaCohen|2001|p=630}} and accompanied them on the ]. The composer and lutenist ] was the '']'', in charge of the entire court's musical activities.{{sfn|Fenlon|2001a}} In addition to his duties to the overall court, Fiorini accompanied the ''concerto'' on the ].{{sfn|Hammond|2004|p=156}} | |||
] | |||
The women would perform up to six hours a day, either singing their own florid repertoire from memory, sight-reading from partbooks, or participating in the ''balletti'' as singers and dancers.<ref>Pendle, pg 82.</ref> Although LaMay posits that the women of the ''concerti delle donne'' provided sexual favors for members of the court,<ref>LaMay, pg. 49</ref> there is no evidence for this, and the circumstances of their marriages and dowries argues against this interpretation. The women were paid salaries and received other benefits, such as dowries and apartments in the ducal palace. Peverara received 300 '']'' a year and lodging in the ducal palace for herself, her husband, and her mother - as well as a dowry of 10,000 ''scudi'' upon her marriage.<ref>Knighton, pg 95.</ref> | |||
Despite having married three times in the hopes of producing an heir, Alfonso II died in 1597 without issue, legitimate or otherwise. |
Despite having married three times in the hopes of producing an heir, Alfonso II died in 1597 without issue, legitimate or otherwise. His cousin ] inherited the Duchy, but the city of Ferrara, which was legally a Papal fief, was annexed to the ] in 1598 through a combination of "firm diplomacy and unscrupulous pressure" by ].{{sfn|Morton|2022|p=156}}{{sfn|Haskell|1980|p=25}} The Este court had to abandon ] in disarray and its music establishment was disbanded.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=153}} While the existence of the ''concerto delle donne'' was widely known, its detailed history was largely lost, dispersed between archival records,{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=2}} until the beginning 20th century when the Italian literature critic Angelo Solerti drew attention to Ferrara's 16th century court culture.{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=4}} | ||
==Music== | ==Music== | ||
===Performance=== | |||
] | |||
The ''concerto delle donne'' transformed the ''musica secreta'' series. In the past, performers and audience members would alternate roles,{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=97}} as the gatherings were "social music for the enjoyment of the singers themselves".{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=216}} During the ascendancy of the ''concerto delle donne'' the roles within the ''musica secreta'' became fixed, resulting in "concert music for the pleasure of an audience".{{sfn|Burkholder|Grout|Palisca|2014|p=216}} The performances had a restricted audience; only selected dignitaries and few ]s saw the ''concerto delle donne'';{{sfn|Savan|2018|p=574}} one such dignitary may have been the Russian ambassador Istoma Shevrigin, in 1581.{{sfn|Jensen|Maier|Shamin|Waugh|2021|p=49}} | |||
The greatest musical innovation of the ''concerto delle donne'' was the multiplying of the ] upper voice from one voice singing ]s above an instrumental accompaniment to two or three voices singing varying dimunitions at once. This practice, which listeners found remarkable, was imitated by composers.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 59</ref> | |||
The performers were thoroughly coached and rehearsed in their work, down to all hand gestures and facial movements.{{sfn|McClary|2012|p=82}} The women performed up to six hours a day, either singing their own florid repertoire from memory, ] from ]s, or participating in the ''balletti'' as singers and dancers.{{sfn|Pendle|2001|p=82}} The ladies' musical duties included performing with the duchess' ''balletto delle donne'', a group of female dancers who frequently ].{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=35}}{{sfn|Treadwell|2002|p=29}} | |||
A number of composers wrote music either inspired by the ''concerto delle donne'' or specifically for them. Hallmarks of such works include a high ], a ] and ] style, and a wide ].<ref>Chew</ref> ]'s third book of ]s was perhaps the first publication fully dedicated to the new singing style. Agostini dedicated songs to Guarini, Peverara, and Luzzaschi.<ref>Fenlon, "Lodovico Agostini".</ref> ] wrote music for the group in 1594 while visiting Ferrara to marry the Duke's niece Leonora d’Este.<ref>Bianconi.</ref> ]'s Seventh Book of Madrigals à 5 and ]'s First Book à 6 were the first true musical monuments to the new ''concerto delle donne''.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 23</ref> ]'s ''Canzonette a tre voci'' was probably influenced by the "Ladies of Ferrara".<ref>Chew.</ref> Although the only works clearly intended for or inspired by the ''concerto delle donne'' were works for multiple high voices executing written-out diminutions, in practice concerts with the ''concerto delle donne'' included the older style of solo ornamented madrigals with instrumental accompaniment. Laura Peverara was singularly lauded for her skill in this genre.<ref>Newcomb 1980 pg. 56</ref> | |||
Works written for the ''concerto delle donne'' were not limited to music: ] and Giovanni Battista Guarini wrote poems dedicated to the ladies in the ''concerto'', some of which were later set by composers. Tasso wrote over 75 poems to Peverara alone.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 189</ref> | |||
Aside from Brancaccio, all the singers in the ''concerto'' were female ]s.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=183}} There is no evidence that the ensemble used ].{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=170}} This fact is surprising, considering that '']'' were shortly to become the biggest stars of a new art form, ].{{sfn|Clapton|2006}} In 1607, Monteverdi's influential '']'' featured four ''castrato'' roles out of a cast of nine, showing the new dominance of this vocal type.{{sfn|Whenham|2001}}{{efn|Outside of the ensemble, Alfonso employed at least two castrati, probably the Spanish brothers Domenico and Hernando Bustamente. Regardless, musicologist Nina Treadwell notes that the Ferrarese "recruitment of castrati waned towards the end of the century with the increased interest in female sopranos".{{sfn|Treadwell|2000|p=43}}}} It also contrasts with the court of Margherita's father, where ] actively sought out ]s.{{sfn|Sherr|1980}} | |||
Luzzaschi's book of madrigals for one, two, and three sopranos with keyboard accompaniment, published in 1601, comprises works written throughout the 1580s. Newcomb considers this the exemplar of the ladies' signature musical style.<ref>Newcomb 1980, 53</ref> In 1584, ], responding to requests from ], described the ladies and composed pieces imitating their style so that Francesco could start his own ''concerto delle donne''. Striggio mentioned an ornamented four voice madrigal for three sopranos and a dialogue with imitative diminutions for two sopranos. He added that he had forgotten the ] for the madrigal in Mantua, and noted that the skilled singer ] could play the bass part on either lute or harpsichord.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pp. 54–55</ref> | |||
The elite, hand-selected audience members favored with admission to performances by the ''concerto delle donne'' demanded diversions and entertainment beyond the pleasures of beautiful music alone. During the concerts, members of the ''concerto'''s audience would sometimes ]. The ambassador of the ] Orazio Urbani, having waited several years to see the ''concerto'', complained that he was forced not only to play cards, distracting him from the performance, but also simultaneously admire and praise the women's music to their patron Alfonso.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=25}} After at least one concert, to continue the entertainment, a ] couple danced.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=26}} Alfonso was not as interested in these peripheral entertainments; in one instance he excused himself from the party to go sit under a tree to listen to the ''concerto'', and follow along with the madrigal texts and musical ]s, which were made available to listeners.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=26}} | |||
The output of the ducal printer, Vittorio Baldini, consisted largely of music written for the ''concerto delle donne'', including the works of the foremost madrigalists, ], ], and ].<ref>Newcomb 1986, pg 106</ref> His first publication for the Duke was ''Il lauro secco'' (1582), which was followed by ''Il lauro verde'' (1583), both containing music by the leading composers of Rome and Northern Italy.<ref>Newcomb, pp 28;69;84</ref> Music in honor of the ''concerto'' was printed as far away as ], with ]'s First Book à 5, published by ] and ] containing the madrigal which begins ''SeGU'ARINAscer LAURA e prenda LARCO / Amor soave e dolce / Ch'ogni cor duro MOLCE''. This capitalization is in the original, clearly spelling out the equivalent of the names Anna Guarini, Laura Peverara, Livia d'Arco, and Tarquinia Molza.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 85</ref> | |||
===Style=== | |||
With the obvious exception of Brancaccio, all the singers in the ''concerto'' were female ]s.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 183</ref> Although the music written for the ''concerto'' focused on high voices, there is no evidence that the ensemble used either '']'' or ].<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg 170</ref> This fact is surprising, considering that ''castrati'' were shortly to become the biggest stars of a new art form, opera.<ref>Nicholas Clapton</ref> In 1607, Monteverdi's '']'' featured four ''castrato'' roles out of a cast of nine, showing the new dominance of this vocal type.<ref>Whenham</ref> It also contrasts with Margherita's father's court, where ] actively sought out eunuchs.<ref>Sherr</ref> | |||
The greatest musical innovation of the ''concerto delle donne'' was its departure from one voice singing diminutions above an instrumental accompaniment to two or three highly ] voices singing varying diminutions at once.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=59}} Such ornaments were meticulously notated by the composers, leaving a detailed record of the ''concerto delle donne'''s performance practice.{{sfn|McClary|2012|p=83}} Although traditionally such ornaments were improvised in performance, notation was used to coordinate and rehearse the multiple voices; the singers may have continued improvised diminutions in their solo repertoire.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=57}} | |||
Specific ornaments used by the ''concerto delle donne'', mentioned in a source from 1581, were such popular sixteenth-century devices as ''passaggi'' (division of a long note into many shorter notes, usually ]), ''cadenze'' (decoration of the penultimate note, sometimes quite elaborate), and ''tirate'' (rapid scales). ''Accenti'' (connection of two longer notes, using dotted rhythms), a staple of early ], are absent from the list.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=25}} In 1592 ] claimed that Alfonso asked him to teach his ladies the new ''accenti'' and ''passaggi'' styles.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=58}}{{sfn|Stark|1999|p=193}} | |||
=== |
===Repertoire=== | ||
]'s printing and the patronage of Alfonso II d'Este.]] | |||
There are two separate styles of ]s written for and inspired by the ''concerto delle donne''. The first is the "luxuriant" style of the 1580s. The second is music in the style of the '']'', written in the 1590s. Luzzaschi wrote music in both of these styles.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pp 115-116</ref> The style of the earlier period, as exemplified in the works of Luzzaschi, involves the use of madrigal texts written by poets within the Ferrarese sphere, such as Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Guarini. These poems tend to be short and witty with single sections.<ref>Newcomb 1980 pg. 116</ref> Musically, Luzzaschi's works are highly sectionalized and based on melodic themes, rather than harmonic structures. Luzzaschi lessens the sectionalizing effect of his compositional techniques by weakening cadences. His tendency to reiterate melodies in different voices, including the bass voice, leads to a sometimes bewildering tonal creations. These aspects make Luzzaschi's music much more polyphonic than Monteverdi's later compositions, and thus more conservative; however, Luzzaschi's use of jarring melodic leaps and harmonic dissonance are individualistic.<ref>Newcomb 1980 pp. 120-125</ref> These dissonances, which contrast sharply with the careful treatment of dissonance during most of the 16th century, is closely connected with the ornamented polyphonic madrigals of the ''concerto delle donne''. In ]'s socratic dialogue, the character defending Monteverdi connects haphazard treatment of dissonance with ornamental singing.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 83</ref> | |||
Many Italian Renaissance composers wrote music either inspired by the ''concerto delle donne'' or specifically for them. Between 1581 and 1586 especially, Alfonso's court saw its most "vibrant and culturally productive period, during which its literary and musical talents were focused most keenly on providing repertoire for the ladies’ performances, both in | |||
===Performance=== | |||
private and as part of court spectacle".{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=241}} | |||
The ''concerto delle donne'' transformed the ''musica secreta''. In the past, members of the audience would perform, and performers would become audience members. During the ascendancy of the ''concerto delle donne'' the roles within the ''musica secreta'' became fixed, as did the roster of those who performed for the Duke's pleasure every night.<ref>Newcomb 1986, pg. 97</ref> | |||
The output of the ducal printer, ], consisted largely of music written for the ''concerto delle donne''.{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=106}} Baldini's first publication for the Duke was ''Il lauro secco'' (1582), which was followed by ''Il lauro verde'' (1583), both containing music by the leading composers of ] and ].{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|pp=28, 69, 84}} Music in honor of the ''concerto'' was printed as far away as ], with ]'s ''First Book à 5,'' published by ] and ] containing the madrigal which begins ''SeGU'ARINAscer LAURA e prenda LARCO / Amor soave e dolce / Ch'ogni cor duro MOLCE''.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=85}} This capitalization is in the original, clearly spelling out the equivalent of the names Anna Guarini, Laura Peverara, Livia d'Arco, and Tarquinia Molza.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=85}} | |||
The elite, hand-selected audience members favored with admission to performances by the ''concerto delle donne'' demanded diversions and entertainment beyond the pleasures of beautiful music alone. During the concerts, members of the ''concerto'''s select audience would sometimes play cards. Orazio Urbani, ambassador of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, having waited several years to see the ''concerto'', complained that he was forced to play cards, distracting him from the performance, but simultaneously admire and praise the womens' music.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 25</ref> After at least one concert, to continue the entertainment, a ] couple danced.<ref>Newcomb 1980, pg. 26</ref> Madrigal texts and musical ]s, including embellishments, were made available to listeners, so that they could follow along as the women sang.<ref>Newcomb 1980 pg. 26</ref> | |||
Musically, their repertoire was written to display the skill of the upper-voiced singers; oftentimes lower static voices accompanied them in contrast.{{sfn|LaMay|2005|p=367}} Such works are characterized by a high '']'', a ] and ] style, and a wide ].{{sfn|Carter|Chew|2001}} There were two separate styles of madrigals written for and inspired by the ''concerto delle donne''. The first is the "luxuriant" style of the 1580s, which set the poetry of Ferrarese natives—such as Tasso and G.B. Guarini—which were generally short and witty with single sections.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=116}} The second is music in the style of the '']'', written in the 1590s, treated harmony with more freedom than the preceding '']'' style .{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|pp=115–116}} | |||
====Specific personalities==== | |||
{{concerto delle donne}} | |||
] | |||
The chief composer for the ''concerto delle donne'' was their director, ],{{sfn|Treadwell|2000|p=78}} who wrote works in both the "luxuriant" and ''seconda pratica'' styles.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|pp=115–116}} Luzzaschi's book of madrigals for one, two, and three sopranos with keyboard accompaniment, published in 1601 as the well-known ''Madrigali per cantare e sonare'', comprises works written throughout the 1580s.{{sfn|Stark|1999|p=155}}{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=53}}{{efn|This music may have been delayed from publication in order to maintain the secrecy of Alfonso's ''musica secreta'', and to maintain control over it. Newcomb considers this publication the exemplar of the ladies' signature musical style.{{sfn|Stark|1999|p=155}}{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=53}}}} Newcomb considers this publication the exemplar of the ladies' signature musical style.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=53}} | |||
Musically, Luzzaschi's works are highly sectionalized and based on melodic themes, rather than ] structures. Luzzaschi lessens the sectionalizing effect of his compositional techniques by weakening ]. His music includes progressive and conservative elements: although his use of vocal imitation creates dense polyphonic textures, akin to earlier 16th-century compositions, his individualistic use of jarring melodic ] and harmonic ] are at odds with older conventions.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|pp=120–125}} This freer use of dissonances were closely connected with the style of the ''concerto delle donne''.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=83}}{{efn|In ]'s ] dialogue, the character defending Monteverdi connects haphazard treatment of dissonance with ornamental singing.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=83}}}} | |||
Other composers who wrote for the ''concerto'' include ], whose third book of ]s is among the first publication fully dedicated to the new singing style. He dedicated songs to Guarini, Peverara, and Luzzaschi.{{sfn|Fenlon|2001b}} ] also wrote music for the group while visiting Ferrara in 1594 to marry the Duke's niece ];{{sfn|Bianconi|2001}} much of Gesualdo's music for the group does not survive.{{sfn|Watkins|1991|p=300}} Other publications include De Wert's ''Seventh Book of Madrigals à 5'' and Marenzio's ''First Book à 6'',{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=23}} while ]'s ''Canzonette a tre voci'' was probably influenced by the group.{{sfn|Carter|Chew|2001}} Some madrigals in the two-book ''Madrigaletti et napolitane'' by ] were written with the ''Concerto delle donne'' in mind, due to their technically demanding content.{{sfn|Shindle|2001}} | |||
Works written for the ''concerto delle donne'' were not limited to music: The poets ] and ] wrote works dedicated to the ladies in the ''concerto'', some of which were later set by composers. Tasso wrote over seventy-five poems to Peverara alone.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=189}} | |||
==Influence== | |||
], kept in the ]]] | |||
While they were neither the first nor only female musicians in Ferrara,{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=2}} the ''concerto delle donne'' was a revolutionary musical establishment that helped effect a shift in ]; its success took women from obscurity to "the apex of the profession".{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=93}} Women were openly brought to court to train as professional musicians,{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=98}} and by 1600, a woman could have a viable career as a musician, independent of her husband or father.{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|p=93}} New women's ensembles inspired by the ''concerto delle donne'' resulted in more positions for women as professional singers and more music for them to perform.{{sfn|Tick|2001}} The ''concerto delle donne'' contested the viewpoint of some contemporaries that women were unfit to achieve noteworthy deeds.{{sfn|Ugolini|2020|p=72}} | |||
Despite Alfonso not publicizing the composed music{{sfn|Morton|2022|p=157}} and the dissolution of the court in 1597, the musical style which was inspired by the ''concerto delle donne'' spread throughout Europe, and remained prominent for almost fifty years.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=153}}{{sfn|McClary|2012|p=83}} The ''concerto delle donne'' was so influential that other courts developed similar ''concerti'' and it became a cliché of northern Italian courts,{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|pp=97, 98, 99}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|2017|p=4}}{{sfn|Cusick|1993|p=17}} having one was a sign of prestige.{{sfn|Treadwell|2004|p=2}} It heavily influenced the development of the madrigal and eventually the ''seconda practica''.<ref>{{harvnb|Pendle|2001|p=83}}; {{harvnb|Cusick|1993|p=17}}; {{harvnb|Morton|2022|p=156}}, reiterated by {{harvnb|Newcomb|1980}}.</ref> The group brought Alfonso and his court international prestige, as the ladies' reputation spread throughout Italy and southern Germany; in 1619 the German composer ] described it as "the latest new Italian style for achieving a good manner of singing".{{sfn|Wistreich|2017}} It functioned as a powerful tool of ], projecting an image of strength and affluence.{{sfn|Newcomb|1986|pp=97, 98, 99}}{{sfn|Stras|2018|p=1}} | |||
Having seen the ''concerto delle donne'' in Ferrara, Caccini created a rival group made up of his family and a pupil. This ensemble was sponsored by the ], and traveled as far abroad as ] to perform for ].{{sfn|Carter|Hitchcock|2001}} ] had much success composing and singing in the style of the ''concerto delle donne''.{{sfn|Carter|Hitchcock|2001}}<!-- Beginning in 1585--> Rival groups were planned in ] by the Medici, ] by the ], and ] by the ].{{sfn|Coluzzi|2019|p=335}} There was even a rival group in Ferrara based in the Castello Estense, the very palace where the ''concerto delle donne'' performed. This group was formed by Alfonso's sister ], Duchess of ]. She had lived at the Este court since 1576, and shortly after Margherita's marriage to Alfonso in 1579, Alfonso and his henchmen killed Lucrezia's lover. Lucrezia was unhappy about being replaced as the matron of the house by Margherita, and upset by the murder of her lover, leading to her desire to be separate from the rest of her family during her evening entertainments.{{sfn|Newcomb|1980|p=101}}{{sfn|Niwa|2005|p=34}} | |||
] was among the last composers and performers in this style, which by the mid-seventeenth century was considered archaic.{{sfn|Springfels}} At least one instrument used by the ''concerto delle donne'', the harp ''L'Arpa di Laura'' in the ] ], has become famous.{{sfn|Kuhn|2020|p=94}} | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
===Notes=== | |||
<div class="references-small"> | |||
{{noteslist}} | |||
*From '']'', ed. L. Macy, (subscription access). All last accessed ] ]. | |||
**Bianconi, Lorenzo. "Carlo Gesualdo." | |||
**Carter, Tim. "Caccini(1) Giulio Romolo Caccini 1. Life." | |||
**Chew, Geoffrey. "Claudio Monteverdi 7. Early Works." | |||
**Fenlon, Iain. "Ippolito Fiorini." | |||
**Fenlon, Iain. "Lodovico Agostini." | |||
**Harris, Ellen T. "Virtuosa." | |||
**Hitchcock, H. Wiley. "Caccini(2) Francesca Caccini." | |||
**Newcomb, Anthony. "Tarquinia Molza." | |||
**Tick, Judith. "Women in music, §II: Western classical traditions in Europe & the USA 3. 1500–1800." | |||
**Whenham, John "Orfeo (i)." (Grove Opera) | |||
*{{cite journal| last = LaMay| first = Thomasin| coauthors = ed. by Todd Borgerding| year = 2002| title = Madalena Casulana: My body knows unheard of songs| journal = Gender, Sexuality, and Early Music| pages = 41-72| id = ISBN 0815333943| format = Book}} | |||
*{{cite book |last= Haskell|first= Francis|title= Patrons and Painters:A study in the relations between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque|year= 1980|publisher= Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London |id= ISBN 0300025408}} | |||
*{{cite book |last= Knighton|first= Tess|authorlink= |coauthors=David Fallows |title= Companion to Medieval and Renaissance music|year= 1998|publisher= University of California Press|location= Berkeley, Los Angeles |id= ISBN 0520210816}} | |||
*{{cite book|last=Newcomb|first=Anthony|title=The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1579-1597|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher= Princeton University Press|year=1980|id=ISBN 0691091250}} | |||
*Pendle, Karin. ''Women and Music: A History''. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN. (2001) ISBN 025321422X | |||
*{{cite journal | |||
| last = Sherr | |||
| first = Richard | |||
| authorlink = | |||
| coauthors = | |||
| year = 1980 | |||
| month = Spring | |||
| title = Gugliemo Gonzaga and the Castrati | |||
| journal = Renaissance Quarterly | |||
| volume = Vol. 33 | |||
| issue = No. 1 | |||
| pages = pp. 33-56 | |||
| doi = | |||
| id = {{ISSN|00344338}} | |||
| url = | |||
| format = Journal | |||
| accessdate = | |||
| quotes = | |||
}} | |||
===Citations=== | |||
*{{cite web | url = http://www.newberry.org/consort/daughtersofmuseprogram.html | title = Newberry Consort Repertoire - Daughters of the Muse | accessmonthday = July 11 | accessyear = 2006 | last = Springfels | first = Mary | publisher = Newberry Library | language = English}} | |||
{{Reflist|20em}} | |||
*''Women Making Music: the Western Musical Tradition, 1150-1950'' ed. J. Bowers and J. Tick. "Courtesans, Muses, or Musicians: Professional women musicians in sixteenth-century Italy." pp. 90-115 by Anthony Newcomb. Urbana, IL. 1986. ISBN 0252014707 | |||
* ''Machines made for singing'': Nicholas Clapton, Curator of the Handel House Museum: Brief essay, 2006; published as part of a programme for the exhibition at the Museum. | |||
</div> | |||
==Notes== | |||
<div class="references-small"><references/></div> | |||
== |
===Sources=== | ||
:'''Books''' | |||
* | |||
{{refbegin|32em}} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Burkholder |first1=J. Peter |author-link1=J. Peter Burkholder |last2=Grout |first2=Donald Jay |author-link2=Donald Jay Grout |last3=Palisca |first3=Claude V. |author-link3=Claude V. Palisca |year=2014 |title=A History of Western Music |edition=9th |publisher=] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-91829-8 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Clapton |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Clapton |year=2006 |chapter=Machines Made for Singing |title=Handel & the Castrati: The Story Behind the 18th-Century Superstar Singers; 29 March – 1 October 2006 |publisher=] |location=London |oclc=254055896 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Fenlon |first=Iain |author-link=Iain Fenlon |year=1980 |title=Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua |volume=1 |publisher=] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-59475-000-7 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Haskell |first=Francis |year=1980 |title=Patrons and Painters: A study in the relations between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque |publisher=] |location=New Haven and London |isbn=978-0-300-02540-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/patronspainterss0000hask_a9o2 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Jensen |first1=C. R. |last2=Maier |first2=I. |last3=Shamin |first3=S. |last4=Waugh |first4=D. C. |year=2021 |title=Russia's Theatrical Past: Court Entertainment in the Seventeenth Century |publisher=] |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-05635-1 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=xGkeEAAAQBAJ}} }} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Knighton |first1=Tess |last2=Fallows |first2=David |author-link2=David Fallows |year=1998 |title=Companion to Medieval and Renaissance music |publisher=] |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-21081-3 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=LaMay |first=Thomasin |editor-last=Borgerding |editor-first=Todd |year=2002 |chapter=Madalena Casulana: My Body Knows Unheard of Songs |title=Gender, Sexuality, and Early Music |publisher=] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames |pages=41–72 |isbn=978-0-8153-3394-4 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=LaMay |first=Thomasin |editor-last1=LaMay |editor-first1=Thomasin |year=2005 |chapter=Composing from the Throat: Madalena Casulana's ''Primo libro de madrigali'', 1568 |title=Musical Voices of Early Modern Women: Many-Headed Melodies |publisher=] |location=Burlington |pages=365–397 |isbn=978-0-7546-3742-4 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=McClary |first=Susan |author-link=Susan McClary |year=2012 |title=Desire and Pleasure in Seventeenth-Century Music |publisher=] |location=Berkley |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=jnKbYFcrX8QC}} }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Newcomb |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Newcomb |year=1980 |title=The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1579–1597 |publisher=] |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-09125-9 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Newcomb |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Newcomb |editor-last1=Bowers |editor-first1=Jane M. |editor-last2=Tick |editor-first2=Judith |year=1986 |chapter=Courtesans, Muses, or Musicians: Professional Women Musicians in Sixteenth-Century Italy |title=Women Making Music: the Western Musical Tradition, 1150–1950 |publisher=] |location=Champaign |pages=90–115 |isbn=978-0-252-01470-3 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Pendle |first=Karin |year=2001 |title=Women and Music: A History |publisher=] |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-21422-5 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=oFZucI550GIC}} }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Stark |first=James |year=1999 |title=Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy |publisher=] |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-8020-8614-3 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=rVFQdViY7jAC}} }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Stras |first=Laurie |year=2018 |title=Women and Music in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara |publisher=] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-316-65045-5 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Stolba |first=K Marie |year=1994 |title=The Development of Western Music: A History |edition=3rd |publisher=] |location=New York |isbn=0-697-29379-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/developmentofwes0000stol_t2w0 |url-access=limited }} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Taruskin |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Taruskin |year=2010 |encyclopedia=Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century |title=Chapter 17: Commercial and Literary Music |series=The ] |volume=1 |publisher=] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-538481-9 }} | |||
* {{cite thesis |last=Treadwell |first=Nina |date=2000 |title=Restaging the Siren: Musical Women in the Performance of Sixteenth-Century Italian Theater |type=PhD |publisher=] |oclc=53291961 |doi=10.25549/usctheses-c16-138553 |url=https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/archive/Restaging-the-siren---Musical-women-in-the-performance-of-sixteenth--century-Italian-theater-2A3BF1L45RKX.html }} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Treadwell |first1=Nina |title=Gender, Sexuality, and Early Music |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-05549-6 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203055496-4/2-simil-combattimento-fatto-da-dame-musico-theatrical-entertainments-margherita-gonzaga-balletto-delle-donne-female-warrior-ferrarese-cultural-history-nina-treadwell |chapter=2 “Simil combattimento fatto da Dame”: The Musico-theatrical Entertainments of Margherita Gonzaga's balletto delle donne and the Female Warrior in Ferrarese Cultural History}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Ugolini |first=Paola |year=2020 |title=The Court and its Critics: Anti-court Sentiments in Early Modern Italy |publisher=] |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4875-3216-1 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Watkins |first=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Watkins |others=Preface by ] |year=1991 |title=Gesualdo: The Man and His Music |publisher=] |location=Oxford |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-19-816216-2 }} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
:'''Articles''' | |||
] | |||
{{refbegin|32em}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Arnold |first1=Denis |title=Review of Le settimo libro de' madrigali (1595) |journal=Early Music |date=1982 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=253–255 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3126902 |issn=0306-1078}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Coluzzi |first1=Seth |title=Licks, Polemics, and the Viola Bastarda: Unity and Defiance in Monteverdi's Fifth Book |journal=] |date=23 September 2019 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=333–344 |doi=10.1093/em/caz040 |url=https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/47/3/333/5540158 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Cusick |first=Suzanne G. |author-link=Suzanne Cusick |date=1 April 1993 |title=Gendering Modern Music: Thoughts on the Monteverdi-Artusi Controversy |journal=] |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.2307/831804 |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jams/article-abstract/46/1/1/49026/Gendering-Modern-Music-Thoughts-on-the-Monteverdi }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=HaCohen |first=Ruth |date=1 September 2001 |title=The Music of Sympathy in the Arts of the Baroque; or, the Use of Difference to Overcome Indifference |journal=] |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=607–650 |doi=10.1215/03335372-22-3-607 |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/poetics-today/article-abstract/22/3/607/20705 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Frederick |year=2004 |title=There is Nothing Like the dame |journal=] |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=156–157 |via=] |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/178653 }} | |||
* {{cite conference |last=Kuhn |first=Eva |title=Agency of Musical Instruments: The Resonance of Instruments without Sounds in the Collection of Francesco II d’Este |conference=19th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music |location=Birmingham |year=2020 |url=https://dial.uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/object/boreal%3A271001/datastream/PDF_01/view |page=94 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Morton |first1=Joëlle |date=22 December 2022 |title=Will Wonders Never Cease? The Viola Bastarda at the Ferrarese Court |journal=] |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=155–168 |doi=10.1093/em/caac036 |url=https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/50/2/155/6746839 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Niwa |first=S. |date=1 February 2005 |title='Madama' Margaret of Parma's patronage of music |journal=] |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=25–38 |doi=10.1093/em/cah039 |url=https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/33/1/25/535443?login=false |doi-access=free }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Savan |first=Jamie |date=31 December 2018 |title=Revoicing a 'Choice Eunuch': The Cornett and Historical Models of Vocality |journal=] |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=561–578 |doi=10.1093/em/cay068 |url=https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/46/4/561/5233004 }} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Schulenberg |first=David |editor-last1=Rice |editor-first1=Timothy |editor-last2=Porter |editor-first2=James |editor-last3=Goertzen |editor-first3=Chris |year=2000 |encyclopedia=]: Europe |title=History of European Art Music |publisher=] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames |url= |isbn=0-8240-6034-2 |pages=99–119 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Sherr |first=Richard |date=Spring 1980 |title=Gugliemo Gonzaga and the Castrati |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |publisher=Renaissance Society of America |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages =33–56 |doi=10.2307/2861534 |issn=0034-4338 |jstor=2861534 }} | |||
* {{cite web |last=Springfels |first=Mary |title=Newberry Consort Repertoire - Daughters of the Muse |publisher=] |location=Chicago |access-date=11 July 2006 |url=http://www.newberry.org/consort/daughtersofmuseprogram.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513035130/http://www.newberry.org/consort/daughtersofmuseprogram.html <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=13 May 2006 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Tomlinson |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Tomlinson |date=9 August 2017 |title=Consider the Madrigal |journal=Per Musi |issue=36 |url=https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/permusi/article/view/5198 |issn=2317-6377}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Treadwell |first=Nina |date=March 2004 |title=She descended on a cloud 'from the highest spheres': Florentine monody 'alla Romanina' |journal=Cambridge Opera Journal |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1017/S0954586704001764 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-opera-journal/article/abs/she-descended-on-a-cloud-from-the-highest-spheres-florentine-monody-alla-romanina/1DB552F4E89B053C8F4CD0F51A286BE8 |issn=1474-0621 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Wistreich |first=Richard |date=5 July 2017 |title='Inclosed in This Tabernacle of Flesh': Body, Soul, and the Singing Voice |journal=Journal of the Northern Renaissance |issue=8 |url=https://jnr2.hcommons.org/2017/5052/ }} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
:'''''Grove'' sources''' | |||
{{refbegin|32em}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Bianconi |first=Lorenzo |others=Revised by Glenn Watkins |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=Gesualdo, Carlo, Prince of Venosa, Count of Conza |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10994 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000010994 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Carter |first1=Tim |author-link=Tim Carter (musicologist) |last2=Hitchcock |first2=H. Wiley |author-link2=H. Wiley Hitchcock |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=(1) Giulio Romolo Caccini |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40146 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-90000380257 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Carter |first1=Tim |author-link=Tim Carter (musicologist) |last2=Chew |first2=Geoffrey |author-link2=Geoffrey Chew (musicologist) |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=Monteverdi , Claudio |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.44352 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000044352 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Fenlon |first=Iain |author-link=Iain Fenlon |year=2001a |encyclopedia=] |title=Fiorini , Ippolito |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.09702 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009702 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Fenlon |first=Iain |author-link=Iain Fenlon |year=2001b |encyclopedia=] |title=Agostini, Lodovico |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.00301 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000000301 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Newcomb |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Newcomb |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=Molza, Tarquinia |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.18918 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018918 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Shindle |first=W. Richard |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=Macque, Giovanni de |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.17378 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000017378 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Tick |first=Judith |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=Women in music, §II: Western classical traditions in Europe & the USA 3. 1500–1800 |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.52554 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000052554 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Whenham |first=John |author-link=John Whenham |year=2001 |encyclopedia=] |title=Orfeo(i) |publisher=] |location=Oxford |access-date=11 April 2006 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005849 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000005849 }} {{Grove Music subscription}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 08:19, 6 December 2024
Group of professional female singers in the late Renaissance court of Ferrara, Italy
The concerto delle donne (lit. 'consort of ladies') was an ensemble of professional female singers of late Renaissance music in Italy. The term usually refers to the first and most influential group in Ferrara, which existed between 1580 and 1597. Renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity, the Ferrarese group's core members were the sopranos Laura Peverara, Livia d'Arco and Anna Guarini.
The Duke of Ferrara Alfonso II d'Este founded a group of mostly female singers for his chamber music series, musica secreta (lit. 'secret music'). These singers were exclusively noble women, such as Lucrezia and Isabella Bendidio. In 1580, Alfonso formally established the concerto delle donne for both his wife Margherita Gonzaga d'Este and reasons of prestige. The new group included professional singers of upper-class, but not noble, backgrounds, under the direction of the composers Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Ippolito Fiorini. Their signature style of florid, highly ornamented singing brought prestige to Ferrara and inspired composers of the time such as Lodovico Agostini, Carlo Gesualdo and Claudio Monteverdi.
The concerto delle donne revolutionized the role of women in professional music, and continued the tradition of the Este court as a musical center. Word of the ladies' ensemble spread across Italy, inspiring imitations in the courts of the Medici and Orsini. The founding of the concerto delle donne was among the most important events in the secular music in the late sixteenth century Italy. The musical innovations established in the court were important in the development of the madrigal, and eventually the seconda pratica.
Background
Northern Italy was a leading center of Renaissance music, which broadly covered the 15th and 16th centuries of Europe. Regional courts, ruled by competing families—such as the Este, Gonzaga, and Medici—patronized secular music immensely, commissioning compositions and forming large ensembles. Although the frottola style held early popularity, it was quickly overtaken by the madrigal in the 1520s. The madrigal became the most important secular genre of 16th-century Italy, and possibly the entire Renaissance; according to J. Peter Burkholder, "through the madrigal, Italy became the leader in European music for the first time in history". Unlike the frottola, composed exclusively by native Italians, the first leading madrigal composers were foreign Franco-Flemish musicians, referred to as Oltremontani (those from lit. '"over the mountains"'), such as Philippe Verdelot and Jacques Arcadelt.
At the court in Ferrara, the Duke Alfonso II d'Este formed a group of mostly female singers by at least 1577. They performed madrigals within the context of the Duke's ongoing musica secreta (lit. 'secret music'), a regular series of chamber music concerts performed for a private audience. Although it is uncertain whether the group's members were amateur or professional musicians, they were noblewomen and would have attended court regardless. These singers included sisters Lucrezia and Isabella Bendidio, as well as Leonora Sanvitale, and Vittoria Bentivoglio. The professional bass singer Giulio Cesare Brancaccio also joined the ensemble.
Formation
The Duke Alfonso II d'Este (by Girolamo da Carpi) and Duchess Margherita Gonzaga (by Jean Bahuet [it] of Ferrara)The Duke formally established the concerto delle donne (lit. 'consort of ladies') in 1580. He did not announce the creation of a new professional, all-female ensemble; instead, the group infiltrated and gradually dominated the musica secreta concerts. This ensemble was created by the Duke in part to amuse his young new wife, Margherita Gonzaga d'Este who was musically-inclined herself, and in part to help the Duke achieve his artistic goals for the court. Margherita's influence on the church through her brother-in-law, the cardinal Luigi d'Este, allowed the concerto to use church assets such as the San Vito convent in Ferrara. The first recorded performance by the professional ladies was on 20 November 1580; Brancaccio joined the new group the next month. By the 1581 carnival season, they were performing together regularly.
This new "consort of ladies" was viewed as an extraordinary and novel phenomenon; most witnesses did not connect the concerto delle donne with the earlier group of ladies from the 1570s. However, modern musicologists now view the earlier group as a crucial part of the creation and development of the social and vocal genre of the concerto delle donne. The culture at the Italian courts of that time had a political dimension, as families aimed to present their greatness by non-violent means.
Roster and duties
The most prominent member of the new ensemble was Laura Peverara, whose musical abilities prompted the Duke to specifically ask the Duchess to bring her from Mantua as part of her retinue. She was particularly lauded for her skill in accompanied solo singing. Peverara was joined by Livia d'Arco and Anna Guarini, daughter of the prolific poet Giovanni Battista Guarini. The latter wrote poems for many of the madrigals which were performed by the ensemble, and wrote texts for the balletto delle donne dances. The well-known singer Tarquinia Molza was involved with the group, but modern scholars disagree on whether she sang with them or was solely as an advisor and instructor. Whether Molza ever performed with them or not, she was ousted from any role in the group after her affair with the composer Giaches de Wert came to light in 1589. After the dismissal of Brancaccio for insubordination in 1583, no more permanent male members of the musica secreta were hired; however, the ensemble occasionally sang with male singers.
The singers of the concerto delle donne were officially ladies-in-waiting of the Duchess Margherita, but were hired primarily as singers. Despite their upper-class background, the singers would not have been welcomed into the court's inner circle had they not been such skilled performers. D'Arco belonged to the nobility, but a minor family only. Peverara was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and Molza came from a prominent family of artists. The musicologist Thomasin LaMay posits that the women of the concerti delle donne provided sexual favors for members of the court, but there is no evidence for this, and the circumstances of their marriages and dowries argues against this interpretation. The women were paid salaries and received other benefits, such as dowries and apartments in the ducal palace. Peverara received 300 scudi a year and lodging in the ducal palace for herself, her husband, and her mother – as well as a dowry of 10,000 scudi upon her marriage.
The new singers played instruments, including the lute, harp, and viol, but focused their energies on developing vocal virtuosity. This skill became highly prized in the mid-sixteenth century, beginning with basses like Brancaccio, but by the end of the century virtuosic bass singing went out of style, and higher voices came into vogue. The composer Luzzasco Luzzaschi directed and wrote music to showcase the ensemble, and accompanied them on the harpsichord. The composer and lutenist Ippolito Fiorini was the maestro di cappella, in charge of the entire court's musical activities. In addition to his duties to the overall court, Fiorini accompanied the concerto on the lute.
Despite having married three times in the hopes of producing an heir, Alfonso II died in 1597 without issue, legitimate or otherwise. His cousin Cesare inherited the Duchy, but the city of Ferrara, which was legally a Papal fief, was annexed to the Papal States in 1598 through a combination of "firm diplomacy and unscrupulous pressure" by Pope Clement VIII. The Este court had to abandon Ferrara in disarray and its music establishment was disbanded. While the existence of the concerto delle donne was widely known, its detailed history was largely lost, dispersed between archival records, until the beginning 20th century when the Italian literature critic Angelo Solerti drew attention to Ferrara's 16th century court culture.
Music
Performance
The concerto delle donne transformed the musica secreta series. In the past, performers and audience members would alternate roles, as the gatherings were "social music for the enjoyment of the singers themselves". During the ascendancy of the concerto delle donne the roles within the musica secreta became fixed, resulting in "concert music for the pleasure of an audience". The performances had a restricted audience; only selected dignitaries and few courtiers saw the concerto delle donne; one such dignitary may have been the Russian ambassador Istoma Shevrigin, in 1581.
The performers were thoroughly coached and rehearsed in their work, down to all hand gestures and facial movements. The women performed up to six hours a day, either singing their own florid repertoire from memory, sight-reading from partbooks, or participating in the balletti as singers and dancers. The ladies' musical duties included performing with the duchess' balletto delle donne, a group of female dancers who frequently crossdressed.
Aside from Brancaccio, all the singers in the concerto were female sopranos. There is no evidence that the ensemble used falsettists. This fact is surprising, considering that castrati were shortly to become the biggest stars of a new art form, opera. In 1607, Monteverdi's influential L'Orfeo featured four castrato roles out of a cast of nine, showing the new dominance of this vocal type. It also contrasts with the court of Margherita's father, where Guglielmo Gonzaga actively sought out eunuchs.
The elite, hand-selected audience members favored with admission to performances by the concerto delle donne demanded diversions and entertainment beyond the pleasures of beautiful music alone. During the concerts, members of the concerto's audience would sometimes play cards. The ambassador of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Orazio Urbani, having waited several years to see the concerto, complained that he was forced not only to play cards, distracting him from the performance, but also simultaneously admire and praise the women's music to their patron Alfonso. After at least one concert, to continue the entertainment, a dwarf couple danced. Alfonso was not as interested in these peripheral entertainments; in one instance he excused himself from the party to go sit under a tree to listen to the concerto, and follow along with the madrigal texts and musical scores, which were made available to listeners.
Style
The greatest musical innovation of the concerto delle donne was its departure from one voice singing diminutions above an instrumental accompaniment to two or three highly ornamented voices singing varying diminutions at once. Such ornaments were meticulously notated by the composers, leaving a detailed record of the concerto delle donne's performance practice. Although traditionally such ornaments were improvised in performance, notation was used to coordinate and rehearse the multiple voices; the singers may have continued improvised diminutions in their solo repertoire.
Specific ornaments used by the concerto delle donne, mentioned in a source from 1581, were such popular sixteenth-century devices as passaggi (division of a long note into many shorter notes, usually stepwise), cadenze (decoration of the penultimate note, sometimes quite elaborate), and tirate (rapid scales). Accenti (connection of two longer notes, using dotted rhythms), a staple of early Baroque music, are absent from the list. In 1592 Giulio Caccini claimed that Alfonso asked him to teach his ladies the new accenti and passaggi styles.
Repertoire
Many Italian Renaissance composers wrote music either inspired by the concerto delle donne or specifically for them. Between 1581 and 1586 especially, Alfonso's court saw its most "vibrant and culturally productive period, during which its literary and musical talents were focused most keenly on providing repertoire for the ladies’ performances, both in private and as part of court spectacle".
The output of the ducal printer, Vittorio Baldini, consisted largely of music written for the concerto delle donne. Baldini's first publication for the Duke was Il lauro secco (1582), which was followed by Il lauro verde (1583), both containing music by the leading composers of Rome and Northern Italy. Music in honor of the concerto was printed as far away as Venice, with Paolo Virchi's First Book à 5, published by Giacomo Vincenti and Ricciardo Amadino containing the madrigal which begins SeGU'ARINAscer LAURA e prenda LARCO / Amor soave e dolce / Ch'ogni cor duro MOLCE. This capitalization is in the original, clearly spelling out the equivalent of the names Anna Guarini, Laura Peverara, Livia d'Arco, and Tarquinia Molza.
Musically, their repertoire was written to display the skill of the upper-voiced singers; oftentimes lower static voices accompanied them in contrast. Such works are characterized by a high tessitura, a virtuosic and florid style, and a wide vocal range. There were two separate styles of madrigals written for and inspired by the concerto delle donne. The first is the "luxuriant" style of the 1580s, which set the poetry of Ferrarese natives—such as Tasso and G.B. Guarini—which were generally short and witty with single sections. The second is music in the style of the seconda pratica, written in the 1590s, treated harmony with more freedom than the preceding prima pratica style .
Specific personalities
The chief composer for the concerto delle donne was their director, Luzzasco Luzzaschi, who wrote works in both the "luxuriant" and seconda pratica styles. Luzzaschi's book of madrigals for one, two, and three sopranos with keyboard accompaniment, published in 1601 as the well-known Madrigali per cantare e sonare, comprises works written throughout the 1580s. Newcomb considers this publication the exemplar of the ladies' signature musical style.
Musically, Luzzaschi's works are highly sectionalized and based on melodic themes, rather than harmonic structures. Luzzaschi lessens the sectionalizing effect of his compositional techniques by weakening cadences. His music includes progressive and conservative elements: although his use of vocal imitation creates dense polyphonic textures, akin to earlier 16th-century compositions, his individualistic use of jarring melodic leaps and harmonic dissonance are at odds with older conventions. This freer use of dissonances were closely connected with the style of the concerto delle donne.
Other composers who wrote for the concerto include Lodovico Agostini, whose third book of madrigals is among the first publication fully dedicated to the new singing style. He dedicated songs to Guarini, Peverara, and Luzzaschi. Carlo Gesualdo also wrote music for the group while visiting Ferrara in 1594 to marry the Duke's niece Leonora d'Este; much of Gesualdo's music for the group does not survive. Other publications include De Wert's Seventh Book of Madrigals à 5 and Marenzio's First Book à 6, while Monteverdi's Canzonette a tre voci was probably influenced by the group. Some madrigals in the two-book Madrigaletti et napolitane by Giovanni de Macque were written with the Concerto delle donne in mind, due to their technically demanding content.
Works written for the concerto delle donne were not limited to music: The poets Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Guarini wrote works dedicated to the ladies in the concerto, some of which were later set by composers. Tasso wrote over seventy-five poems to Peverara alone.
Influence
While they were neither the first nor only female musicians in Ferrara, the concerto delle donne was a revolutionary musical establishment that helped effect a shift in women's role in music; its success took women from obscurity to "the apex of the profession". Women were openly brought to court to train as professional musicians, and by 1600, a woman could have a viable career as a musician, independent of her husband or father. New women's ensembles inspired by the concerto delle donne resulted in more positions for women as professional singers and more music for them to perform. The concerto delle donne contested the viewpoint of some contemporaries that women were unfit to achieve noteworthy deeds.
Despite Alfonso not publicizing the composed music and the dissolution of the court in 1597, the musical style which was inspired by the concerto delle donne spread throughout Europe, and remained prominent for almost fifty years. The concerto delle donne was so influential that other courts developed similar concerti and it became a cliché of northern Italian courts, having one was a sign of prestige. It heavily influenced the development of the madrigal and eventually the seconda practica. The group brought Alfonso and his court international prestige, as the ladies' reputation spread throughout Italy and southern Germany; in 1619 the German composer Michael Praetorius described it as "the latest new Italian style for achieving a good manner of singing". It functioned as a powerful tool of propaganda, projecting an image of strength and affluence.
Having seen the concerto delle donne in Ferrara, Caccini created a rival group made up of his family and a pupil. This ensemble was sponsored by the Medici, and traveled as far abroad as Paris to perform for Marie de' Medici. Francesca Caccini had much success composing and singing in the style of the concerto delle donne. Rival groups were planned in Florence by the Medici, Rome by the Orsini, and Mantua by the Gonzaga. There was even a rival group in Ferrara based in the Castello Estense, the very palace where the concerto delle donne performed. This group was formed by Alfonso's sister Lucrezia d'Este, Duchess of Urbino. She had lived at the Este court since 1576, and shortly after Margherita's marriage to Alfonso in 1579, Alfonso and his henchmen killed Lucrezia's lover. Lucrezia was unhappy about being replaced as the matron of the house by Margherita, and upset by the murder of her lover, leading to her desire to be separate from the rest of her family during her evening entertainments.
Barbara Strozzi was among the last composers and performers in this style, which by the mid-seventeenth century was considered archaic. At least one instrument used by the concerto delle donne, the harp L'Arpa di Laura in the Galleria Estense art gallery, has become famous.
References
Notes
- ^ Also known as the concerto di donne or concerto delle (or di ) dame.
- The concerto delle donne may refer to any of the professional female singing ensembles throughout Italy during the late Renaissance; however, it most often refers to the ensemble in Ferrara, which was the earliest and most prominent one. Musicologist Laurie Stras describes them as group "the group most widely recognized as the concerto delle dame"
- The musicologist Judith Tick believes the singer Tarquinia Molza sang with the group, but Anthony Newcomb says she was involved solely as an advisor and instructor. The musicologist Karin Pendle only says that Molza "joined the ensemble".
- Outside of the ensemble, Alfonso employed at least two castrati, probably the Spanish brothers Domenico and Hernando Bustamente. Regardless, musicologist Nina Treadwell notes that the Ferrarese "recruitment of castrati waned towards the end of the century with the increased interest in female sopranos".
- This music may have been delayed from publication in order to maintain the secrecy of Alfonso's musica secreta, and to maintain control over it. Newcomb considers this publication the exemplar of the ladies' signature musical style.
- In Giovanni Artusi's socratic dialogue, the character defending Monteverdi connects haphazard treatment of dissonance with ornamental singing.
Citations
- ^ Stras 2018, p. 2.
- ^ LaMay 2005, p. 367.
- Stras 2018, p. 218.
- Schulenberg 2000, pp. 99, 103–104.
- Stolba 1994, p. 190.
- ^ Burkholder, Grout & Palisca 2014, p. 208.
- Taruskin 2010, § "Vernacular Song Genres: Italy".
- Burkholder, Grout & Palisca 2014, p. 210.
- Fenlon 1980, p. 125.
- ^ Pendle 2001, p. 80.
- ^ Morton 2022, p. 156.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 4.
- ^ Burkholder, Grout & Palisca 2014, p. 216.
- ^ Stark 1999, p. 190.
- ^ Newcomb 1986, p. 96.
- ^ Ugolini 2020, p. 71.
- Newcomb 1980, pp. 7, 106, 120.
- Stras 2018, pp. 229–230.
- Newcomb 1980, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 20.
- Stras 2018, p. 140.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 56.
- Arnold 1982, pp. 253–254.
- Treadwell 2002, p. 28.
- ^ Newcomb 2001.
- ^ Tick 2001.
- Pendle 2001, p. 40.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 7.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 11.
- LaMay 2002, p. 49.
- Knighton & Fallows 1998, p. 95.
- ^ Springfels.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 19.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 23.
- HaCohen 2001, p. 630.
- Fenlon 2001a.
- Hammond 2004, p. 156.
- Haskell 1980, p. 25.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 153.
- Stras 2018, p. 4.
- Newcomb 1986, p. 97.
- Savan 2018, p. 574.
- Jensen et al. 2021, p. 49.
- McClary 2012, p. 82.
- Pendle 2001, p. 82.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 35.
- Treadwell 2002, p. 29.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 183.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 170.
- Clapton 2006.
- Whenham 2001.
- Treadwell 2000, p. 43.
- Sherr 1980.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 25.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 26.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 59.
- ^ McClary 2012, p. 83.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 57.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 58.
- Stark 1999, p. 193.
- Stras 2018, p. 241.
- Newcomb 1986, p. 106.
- Newcomb 1980, pp. 28, 69, 84.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 85.
- ^ Carter & Chew 2001.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 116.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, pp. 115–116.
- Treadwell 2000, p. 78.
- ^ Stark 1999, p. 155.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 53.
- Newcomb 1980, pp. 120–125.
- ^ Newcomb 1980, p. 83.
- Fenlon 2001b.
- Bianconi 2001.
- Watkins 1991, p. 300.
- Shindle 2001.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 189.
- ^ Newcomb 1986, p. 93.
- Newcomb 1986, p. 98.
- Ugolini 2020, p. 72.
- Morton 2022, p. 157.
- ^ Newcomb 1986, pp. 97, 98, 99.
- Tomlinson 2017, p. 4.
- Cusick 1993, p. 17.
- Treadwell 2004, p. 2.
- Pendle 2001, p. 83; Cusick 1993, p. 17; Morton 2022, p. 156, reiterated by Newcomb 1980.
- Wistreich 2017.
- Stras 2018, p. 1.
- ^ Carter & Hitchcock 2001.
- Coluzzi 2019, p. 335.
- Newcomb 1980, p. 101.
- Niwa 2005, p. 34.
- Kuhn 2020, p. 94.
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- Articles
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- Hammond, Frederick (2004). "There is Nothing Like the dame". Early Music. 32 (1): 156–157 – via Project MUSE.
- Kuhn, Eva (2020). Agency of Musical Instruments: The Resonance of Instruments without Sounds in the Collection of Francesco II d’Este. 19th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music. Birmingham. p. 94.
- Morton, Joëlle (22 December 2022). "Will Wonders Never Cease? The Viola Bastarda at the Ferrarese Court". Early Music. 50 (2): 155–168. doi:10.1093/em/caac036.
- Niwa, S. (1 February 2005). "'Madama' Margaret of Parma's patronage of music". Early Music. 33 (1): 25–38. doi:10.1093/em/cah039.
- Savan, Jamie (31 December 2018). "Revoicing a 'Choice Eunuch': The Cornett and Historical Models of Vocality". Early Music. 46 (4): 561–578. doi:10.1093/em/cay068.
- Schulenberg, David (2000). "History of European Art Music". In Rice, Timothy; Porter, James; Goertzen, Chris (eds.). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. pp. 99–119. ISBN 0-8240-6034-2.
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- Springfels, Mary. "Newberry Consort Repertoire - Daughters of the Muse". Chicago: Newberry Library. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
- Tomlinson, Gary (9 August 2017). "Consider the Madrigal". Per Musi (36). ISSN 2317-6377.
- Treadwell, Nina (March 2004). "She descended on a cloud 'from the highest spheres': Florentine monody 'alla Romanina'". Cambridge Opera Journal. 16 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1017/S0954586704001764. ISSN 1474-0621.
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- Grove sources
- Bianconi, Lorenzo (2001). "Gesualdo, Carlo, Prince of Venosa, Count of Conza". Grove Music Online. Revised by Glenn Watkins. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10994. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Carter, Tim; Hitchcock, H. Wiley (2001). "(1) Giulio Romolo Caccini [Giulio Romano]". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40146. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Carter, Tim; Chew, Geoffrey (2001). "Monteverdi [Monteverde], Claudio". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.44352. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Fenlon, Iain (2001a). "Fiorini [Fiorino], Ippolito". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.09702. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Fenlon, Iain (2001b). "Agostini, Lodovico". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.00301. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Newcomb, Anthony (2001). "Molza, Tarquinia". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.18918. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Shindle, W. Richard (2001). "Macque, Giovanni de". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.17378. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Tick, Judith (2001). "Women in music, §II: Western classical traditions in Europe & the USA 3. 1500–1800". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.52554. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Whenham, John (2001). "Orfeo(i)". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005849. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 11 April 2006. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
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