A daughter of a nobleman, a lover of a nobleman, but never quite a member of the nobility itself, composer Barbara Strozzi lived, what seems to us, an unconventional life in Venice’s golden age.
Born in 1619, Strozzi was the illegitimate daughter of playwright Giulio Strozzi, who made her his sole heir, oversaw her education, and arranged for composition lessons with Francesco Cavalli, the leading opera composer in Venice. Giulio also made Barbara the musical patroness of the Academia degli Unisoni--- a spinoff of a prominent literary society--- where she sang and suggested the topics for the club’s debates.
But despite her skill, as a 17th-century woman of a prominent household Strozzi was not able to pursue a performing career. Following her father’s death, however, Barbara did publish eight volumes of her compositions. The works likely generated income from the dedicatees of the music who were all major figures of the high nobility, and would have rewarded Strozzi with a substantial monetary gift in exchange for the recognition.
Nearly all of her works are for solo voice and continuo (harpsichord or lute and viola da gamba), which implies she published what she could perform herself. Her songwriting is attentive to the emotional content of her texts--- most written expressly for her by notable colleagues of her father--- and show off the singer’s voice with rapid changes of texture, melody, and rhythm.
Barbara never married, but did bear and raise four children of a married, though supportive, nobleman. Three of those children entered service of The Church, and Strozzi herself passed at the age of 58 in 1677.
Barbara Strozzi… a Composing Woman.
Supporting Materials
https://barbarastrozzi.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Strozzi
