Vittoria Aleotti & Raphaela Aleotta
Born: ca.1574
Died: 1646
BIOGRAPHY MUSIC RECORDINGS SOURCES
[It is important to note that there continues to be much discussion about whether or not Raphaela and Vittoria were the same person. There is no record of Vittoria at San Vito convent and Aleotti did not mention a Vittoria in his will. For the purposes of this entry, we will refer to them separately, however whether the women had separate identities is still unknown.]
Giovanni Battista Aleotti, an Italian engineer and architect of churches and theater sets, worked for the Este family of Ferrara, Italy. His five daughters, Raphaela (also known as l’Argenta), Vittoria, Beatrice, Cinzia, Camilla and Armanda were all gifted musicians, but Raphaela and Vittoria became the better known composers of the family.
Because Aleotti spent a significant amount of time working in and around churches he made certain that he provided an ecclesiastical education to his eldest daughter, Raphaela. Her studies, which included private instruction by Alessandro Milleville, helped her develop into an extremely talented musician. In 1593 she composed and published a book of motets for the choral ensemble at the San Vito convent, where she was a nun, titled Sacrae cantiones: quinque, septem, octo & decem vocibus decantande. This was her only publication, dedicated to the bishop of Ferrara, and is the first known work of sacred music by a woman to be printed. These motets display Raphaela’s talents for clear vocal writing with simple texture and a new independence of two choir singing with a modern declamatory style. They were likely composed after her other duties as a nun and teacher of children were completed. She was also known as a fine organist who lived a long, successful life at the convent, likely dedicating herself more to teaching, directing and performing than to composing.
The convent of San Vito, for the better part of the late Renaissance, offered performances of sophisticated musical works to the public. The nuns there primarily sang but also played cornetti, trombones and wind instruments. Hercole Bottrigari, an Italian scholar and musician, published a discussion in his work, Il Desiderio, describing the talented female musicians at San Vito, Raphaela most likely being the leader and teacher of many of them. He writes, “A long table has been prepared, at one end of which is found a large clavicembalo, you would see them enter one by one, quietly bringing their instruments, either stringed or wind….. Finally the Maestra of the concert sits down at one end of the table and when all the other sisters are ready, gives them without noise, several signs to begin. It appeared to me that the persons who ordinarily participated in this concert were not human, bodily creatures, but were truly angelic spirits.“
Vittoria, Aleotti’s second daughter, was largely self taught while watching her older sibling in her lessons. Vittoria, who was already playing the harpsichord at age 4 or 5, continued studying both with Milleville and Ercole Pasquini. Her musical talents were so great she lived and studied at the convent of San Vito for several years before choosing to dedicate her life to God and take her vows at 14 years of age. She remained at the convent for forty nine years, serving as a musician, conductor, keyboardist and composer.
Vittoria published one madrigal in 1591 titled Giardino de’ musici ferraresi, and a book of madrigals in 1593 titled Ghirlanda de madrigali a quattro voce. Vittoria’s father “arranged to have some madrigals of the very illustrious and Excellent Cavaliere Guarini (LaMay)” set to music by his daughter, which resulted in Ghirlanda de madrigali, a book of eighteen madrigals in four parts. All but two of the texts are by the poet Giovanni Battista Guarini and describe traditional love; the first and last pieces in the collection, however, are religious texts. Speculating that Vittoria picked them herself to find her own voice, Thomasin LaMay suggests that Vittoria may not have been comfortable writing madrigals that weren’t from a woman’s point of view and was struggling to find a way to define them for herself. LaMay’s examination of the 4th and 5th madrigals, T’amo mia vita, Io v’amo vita mia, highlights compositional techniques that vary from traditional writing practices both harmonically and because of the use of dissonance for expressing emotion. Through accidentals and carefully crafted melismas, Vittoria attempts to find her own voice through her compositions.