Caterina Assandra
Born: c. 1590, likely in Pavia
Died: after 1618 in Lomello
BIOGRAPHY MUSIC RECORDINGS SOURCES
Famous Italian organist, composer and Benedictine nun, Caterina Assandra, whose motets were among the first of the Roman style to be published in Milan, was born into an affluent family, likely in Pavia. Assandra’s musical education began in her childhood when she studied with private tutors hired by her father. Living in a time when music making was judiciously monitored, Assandra’s musical education was justified as serving a religious purpose.
Assandra took her vows as a nun in 1609 at the cloister of Sant' Agata in Lomello near Pavia. While at the cloister, Assandra studied counterpoint with Benedetto Re, or “Reggio,” one of the leading teachers at Pavia Cathedral. She called him “Maestro di contraponto,” based upon her notes in Motetti à due e tre voci, Op. 2 (Milan, 1609), which was dedicated to G.B. Biglia, the Bishop of Pavia. The publication includes ten works for soprano and bass voices and features two of Re’s compositions. In response, Re later published works of Assandra’s along with his own music.
Assandra’s compositional style was influenced by local composer Agostino Agazzari. She composed in both traditional and reformed styles, showing progressive tendencies, and her setting of Duo seraphim may have inspired Monteverdi's setting of the same text. Her compositions were largely published between 1609 and 1616, and it is assumed that her duties as a nun took over after that point, which halted her composing career. Two of her motets were later re-published in German anthologies and, unlike many other nuns who wrote music at that time, her work was known beyond the boundaries of her home country.
Publisher, Filippo Lomazzo, dedicated Giovan Paolo Cima’s Partito de ricercari e canzoni alla francese to Assandra in 1606 and said:
“Knowing therefore how great is the desire of your father that Your Excellency be adorned with all the virtues, maintaining for you teachers of letters, and of music both in singing as well as in playing various sorts of instruments customarily used in the church to praise God, I am sure that you will be grateful, that besides the many books of music by excellent authors that he already asked me for in order to give Your Excellency greater occasion to learn, I have added to them now these, and dedicate them to you.” (Source: Women Making Music, The Western Art Tradition)