Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era

[Women Composers]

Barbara Strozzi
Cantate, ariete a una, due e tre voci, Opus 3
Edited by Gail Archer

Cantate, ariete a una, due e tre voci, a collection of 11 secular cantatas, was first published by the Venetian printer Gardano in 1654. Barbara Strozzi published at her own expense seven volumes of secular works and one sacred volume, containing more than 100 works, while better known male contemporaries, such as Carissimi and Rossi, published only a small fraction of their output. A virtuoso lutenist and singer, Strozzi probably performed her pieces in her home at meetings of the Accademia degli Incogniti. Members of this group supplied librettos to all of the major opera composers in seventeenth-century Venice and also contributed texts to Strozzi's cantatas.

This modern edition includes English translations of the texts and a brief discussion of performance practice. The limited number of figured bass symbols provided by the composer have been retained, underscoring the period's devotion to the performer's art: freely improvised lute or keyboard accompaniment and expressive vocal ornamentation. Of particular interest is the extended political lament, no. 3, Il lamento.

Music Sample

Contents
Cantate, ariete a una, due, e tre voci
Cuore che reprime alle lingua di manifestare il nome della sua cara; Moralita amorosa; Il lamento; A donna bella e crudele; Con male nuove, non si puo cantare; Amor non si fugge; Donna non sa che dice, non dice che sa; Mentita; Begli occhi; Cor donato, cor rubato

Contrasto tra Filindo, Dori e Tirsi
Desideri vani