Maria Rosa Coccia
Born: June 4, 1759, Rome, Italy
Died: November 1833, Rome, Italy
BIOGRAPHY MUSIC SOURCES
Italian composer, teacher, and harpsichordist, Maria Rosa Coccia, was extremely musically inclined and famous from a young age. Her earliest compositions include an oratorio, Daniello nel lago dei leoni, dedicated to Duchess Marianna Caetani Sforza-Cesarini, and a setting of Metastasio's L'isola disabitata. Both were written when she was only 13.
She studied counterpoint with Sante Pesci, Maestro di Cappella of the Basilica Liberiana. She became maestra di cappella at Congregazione di Santa Cecilia in 1774 when she was 15. She later held the same post at Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna beginning in 1779.
Her examination composition, which involved writing a Canon in the presence of four adjudicators from the Roman Accademia di Santa Cecilia, was questioned in 1780 by Francesco Capalti, Maestro di Cappella of Narni Cathedral, because he claimed her writing contained errors. He also alleged that her work was only published because she was a woman. As a result, Coccia was offered letters of recommendation and support by Metastasio, Carlo Broschi (aka Farinelli) and Giovanni Battista Martini. A biography about her was also published by Michelle Mallio to prove the validity and quality of her work.
Coccia’s sacred and secular compositions followed the typical styles and conventions of the music written in her day. She was particularly adept at writing choral music, but her oratorio work displays her skilled ability to navigate recitatives, arias, and orchestral writing.
The quote below indicates the fortitude Coccia displayed in the midst of family health issues and with regards to her music not being taken seriously by the society in which she lived:
I have always believed that music can heal ails in which modern medicine cannot, but today I am not sure, my dear Carlo. For you see, my sister is becoming weaker by the day, And though I teach piano-forte day and night and search high and low for a patron to take hear my compositions, Neither effort seems enough to afford the medicine or to keep my mind from worrying to death over her.
It has been five years since I wrote Daniello nel lago dei leoni, and at 16, I felt on top of the world, convincing them all that women can write music just as well as men. Despite the controversy surrounding my entrance exam. With your support, I was able to rise above such nonsense and continue writing music. I felt I was reaching out to the whole world with motets and the oratorio, but apparently it wasn’t enough.
I sometimes wonder if it is God writing messages through my hand, For I can not stop the notes from coming out on the page even if I wanted to. It has been suggested that I give up music to go into medicine to help my sister and others. As hard as I try, though, I cannot give up the musical part of me.
As a fellow musician and as a singer, you must understand this. How can we convince the world that it needs music, just as the body needs nutrients? There must be someone who will hear and support our music! (Source: UWGB commons)