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The Music of Vittoria Aleotti I have always been interested in the musical creativity of women from Kassia (between 810 -865) to Hildegard of Bingham (1098-1179) through all the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th century, and contemporary composers. I have enjoyed playing their music and arranging some for various keyboard and chamber ensembles. I recently became enchanted with the choral arrangements of a Renaissance/Baroque composer and thought her music would be delightful arranged for various brass ensembles. And as organists we are always looking for worthy brass music to enhance our worship services. Meet Vittoria Aleotti – aka Raphaela Aleotta (c. 1574-1646), an accomplished composer of madrigals and motets and a nun from the San Vito convent in Italy. Scholars debate the identity of Vittoria Aleotti and Raphaela Aleotta. Were they sisters? Was Raphaela the older sister of Vittoria, or perhaps Vittoria took the name of Raphaela when she entered the convent of San Vito? It is a puzzle that may never be answered. Vittoria Aleotti published one madrigal in the collection Il giardino de’ musici ferraresi 1591, and a book of madrigals, Ghirlanda de madrigali a quatro voci in 1593. Vittoria’s alter ego, Raphaela Aleotta, published one book of motets, Sacrae cantiones quinque, septem, octo, & decem vocibus decantande in 1593. Vittoria, a musical prodigy, was placed in the convent San Vito to further her musical studies when she was seven years old. She chose to remain in the convent, and stayed there for the next forty-nine years from 1591 to 1640. In 1593 Vittoria/Raphaela published Sacrae cantiones. She wrote the dedication herself, the first sacred music by a woman to appear in print. Ghirlanda de madrigali by Vittoria Aleotti contains eighteen four-voice madrigals for soprano (canto), alto, tenor, and bass. The madrigals, as well as the motets transcribe well for various brass ensembles. The madrigals are short, with imitative sections that alternate with chordal sections, and with the expected meter changes from duple to triple. Duets and trios are common in the musical fabric. Dissonance is carefully placed both in the melody as well as in the supporting harmonies. T’amo mia vita, la mia cara vita (I Love You My Life, My Dearest Life) and Io v’amo vita mia (I Love You My Life) are examples of her secular, madrigal style. Her music lives on through the publication of Volumes I (madrigals) and II (motets) by Encore Music Publishers, 2012, with the transcription of her musical motets and madrigals for various brass ensembles. Ripresa – the music of Vittoria Aleotti, Madrigals, Volume I, Encore Music Publishers, 2012 Brass Trio Se Je Souspire/Ecce Iterum (Thus I Sigh and Lament/Behold, Again a New Sorrow Comes!) Margaret of Austria (1480-1530) Trumpet, Horn, Trombone Brass Quartet Io v’amo vita mia (I Love You My Life) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti (ca. 1574-ca.1646) Fifth madrigal from Aleotti’s collection of 21 madrigals, Ghirlanda de madrigali a quarto voci (Venice: G. Vincenti, 1593) Trumpet I, Trumpet II, Horn, Trombone Baciai per haver vita (I Kissed with Expectation) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti from Aleotii’s collection of 21 madrigals, Ghirlanda de madrigali a quarto voci (Venice: G. Vincenti, 1593) Trumpets I and II, Trombones I and II Hor che la vaga Aurora (Now with the Dawn the Sun Wakes) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti from Aleotti’s collection of 21 madrigals, Ghirlanda de madrigali a quarto voci (Venice: G. Vincenti, 1593) T’amo mia vita, la mia cara vita (I Love You My Life, My Dearest Life) Fourth madrigal from Aleotti’s collection of 21 madrigals, Ghirlanda de madrigali a quarto voci (Venice: G. Vincenti, 1593) Ripresa – the music of Vittoria Aleotti, Motets, Volume II, Encore Music Publishers, 2012 Exurgat Deus (Let God Arise and Scatter His Enemies) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti from Psalm 67 Trumpets I and II, Horns, Trombone, Tuba Angelus ad pastores ait (Gabriel Said unto the Shepherds) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti from Aleotti’s collection of 18 motets, Sacrae cantiones quinque, septem, octo, et decem vocibus decantande (Venice: R. Amadino, 1593) Trumpets I, II, III, Horn, Trombone Facta est cum Angelo (With the Angel There Suddenly Appeared) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti from Aleotti’s collection of 18 motets, Sacrae cantiones quinque, septem, octo, et decem vocibus decantande (Venice: R. Amadino, 1593) Trumpets I and II, Horns I and II, Trombone Ascendens Christus in altum (Christ has Ascended to Heaven) Vittoria/Raphaela Aleotti from Aleotti’s collection of 18 motets, Sacrae cantiones quinque, septem, octo, et decem vocibus decantande (Venice: R. Amadino, 1593) Trumpets I and II, Horns I and II, Trombone The Sacrae cantiones of Raphaela Aleotta contains eighteen motets for a variety of voices from five-part motets to a ten-part motet. Raphaela states in her dedication that she composed music when she was free from her convent duties of teaching, performing, and participating in religious affairs.
Exurgat Deus (Let God arise and scatter his enemies) is a five-voice motet from Psalm 67. Imitative texture predominates with overlapping cadences. Her melodies are particularly well-constructed and playable. Motets were usually performed by trained singers, and the range of these motets is extended with the soprano going higher than the usual tessitura, while the alto and bass sing lower than the usual range. The motets and madrigals are progressive for the period, with the motets a collection from a gifted musician.
Besides her talents as a composer and organist, Vittoria also made major contributions to the convent of San Vito as music teacher and conductor. She participated in the concerto grande, an ensemble of twenty-three singers as well as instrumentalists, trained women musicians within the convent, and taught young children in the public sphere.
Hercole Bottrigari states in his Il Desiderio of 1594, a dialogue on the musical practice at San Vito:
“It appeared to me that the persons who ordinarily participated in this concert were not human, bodily creatures, but were truly angelic spirits. Nor must you imagine that I refer to the beauty of face and richness of garments and clothing, for you would err greatly, since one sees only the most modest grace and pleasing dress and humble department in them.”
The convent of San Vito in Ferrara was a music training institution, and Maestra Vittoria was the music director. No male teachers were brought in to teach the young women. Vittoria taught the singers as well as the instrumentalists, and even taught musical instruments that women were not usually permitted to play such as the cornetti, trombone, violin, viole bastarde, cornamuses (bagpipes), and flutes.
The convent was remarkable for its time, and in the history of the convents. These extraordinary musicians were women, and a popular belief of the day stated that since women had little social status or intellect, they could not possibly reach such a high level of performance. Therefore, the musicians “were not human, bodily creatures, but truly angelic spirits.” Therefore, by calling them “angelic spirits,” no one has to come to terms with the thought that women in the Renaissance were excellent and capable musicians.
Vittoria Aleotti’s madrigals and motets are of moderately easy-to-medium difficulty. Encore Music Publishers has done a great service in bringing these pieces to the performing and listening public. Encore has sustained the great musical legacy of Vittoria Aleotti. As a composer, I also enjoy writing music to great poetry. Emily! for Soprano, Trumpet and Piano is in three movements, based on the poetry of the great American poet, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). The first movement, I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed, portrays a mystical state of experiencing the soul’s awareness, an awareness that is so overwhelmingly uplifting that she feels as if she had become intoxicated by drinking alcohol. The second movement, If You Were Coming in the Fall, is about love, time and separation, and addressed to someone who is away. The third movement, based on two poems Wild Nights! Wild Nights! and For Each Ecstatic Instant. Wild Nights! Wild Nights! is a poem of unrestrained passion and rapture. For Each Ecstatic Instant describes a relationship of joy and pain, and joy is inevitably paid for by suffering – joy is brief but the resulting pain lasts. The soprano, trumpet and piano intermingle and weave the melodies, each an integral part of the whole, forming a true trio. Check out the Art of Sound Music publication at http://artofsoundmusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=955 You can see and hear the score with ScoreFlipper. The PDF files include trumpet part in C, Bb, Eb and D. Only C trumpet part provided with Ship to me option. I. I taste a liquor never brewed, Inebriate of air am I, When landlords turn the drunken bee Till seraphs swing their snowy hats, II. If You Were Coming in the Fall, If I could see you in a year, If only centuries delayed, If certain, when this life was out, But now, all ignorant of the length III. Wild Nights! Wild Nights! / For Each Ecstatic Instant Futile the winds Rowing in Eden! We must an anguish pay For each beloved hour  Dr. Barbara Harbach, professor of music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has a large catalog of works, including; symphonies, operas, string orchestras, musicals, works for chamber ensembles, film scores, modern ballets, pieces for organ, harpsichord and piano; choral anthems; and many arrangements for brass and organ of various Baroque works. She is also involved in the research, editing, publication and recording of manuscripts of eighteenth-century keyboard composers, as well as historical and contemporary women composers. Her work is available in both recorded and published form through MSR Classics, Naxos Records, Gasparo Records, Kingdom Records, Albany Records, Northeastern Records, Hester Park, Robert King Music, Elkan-Vogel, Augsburg Fortress, Encore Music Publishers, Art of Sound Music, Agape Music and Vivace Press. Harbach serves as editor of the WomenArts Quarterly Journal.
Dr. Barbara Harbach |
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