Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704)
Composer; Ursuline nun
Works published by MoV
Alma Redemptoris Mater (SATB & continuo)
Alma Redemptoris Mater (SATB & continuo)
Alma Redemptoris Mater is one of four seasonal liturgical Marian Antiphons sung in honour of the Virgin Mary during Advent, the other three being Ave Regina caelorum, Regina caeli, and Salve Regina. Alma Redemptoris Mater was published by Camagni of Milan in 1684 in the collection Motetti a quattro voci. Barlines, clefs, beaming, slurs and text have been regularised and modernised throughout; minor corrections have been made where necessary.
Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704)
Isabella Leonarda was born in Novara, Italy, into a religious family of minor nobility, and entered the Collegio di Sant’Orsola in 1636. Whether she was a cloistered Ursuline nun or a ‘religious virgin’ living out her vocation (or obligation) is unclear. Annotated manuscripts, which Leonarda dedicated variously to local nobles, but also, always, to the Virgin Mary, demonstrate that she held senior religious and organisational roles within the College, as well as that of magistra musicae (music teacher). Her first published works were two sacred dramatic dialogues which appeared within Terzo libro di sacri concenti, an anthology published by Gasparo Casati in 1640. A gap of more than 30 years in the publication of her works is unexplained. From 1676 onwards many of her works were published in quick succession - over 200 survive - including conservatively-composed liturgical and non-liturgical sacred works for boys’ and mens’ voices, and many instrumental works including her Sonate a 1,2,3,4 istromenti opera decima sesta published in Bologna in 1693, as yet the earliest-known solely instrumental works composed by a woman.
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