Gambenspielerin (The Viola da Gamba Player)
By Bernardo Strozzi, c.1630-40
Believed to be of Barbara Strozzi

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was a Venetian composer and singer who published eight collections of her music during her lifetime and is often credited with creating and codifying the cantata genre. The adopted daughter of the famed poet Guilio Strozzi, she grew up in a household surrounded by the most prominent intellectuals and musicians of her day. Giulio was a member of the elite Accademia degli Incogniti, an intellectual organization of musicians, writers, and philosophers now known for promoting the then-new genre of opera.

Barbara began her performance career by 1634, singing informally for members of the Incogniti. At least in part to promote her performances, Giulio founded his own academy in 1637––the Accademia degli Unisoni. Participating in Academy meetings was taboo for a woman, and like many female performers, Barbara’s chastity was debated in vitriolic satires. One author asserted that “It is a fine thing to distribute the flowers after having already surrendered the fruit,” while another decided that she must have been “extremely chaste since as a woman with a liberal upbringing she could pass the time with some lover, yet she nevertheless concentrates all her affection on a castrato.”

Despite not having a court or church appointment, Strozzi published an astonishing 125 pieces during her life, most for solo voice and continuo. Her lengthy through-composed cantatas alternate sections of recitative, aria, and arioso. Her complete works have been published in modern scholarly editions by Cor Donato Editions.

Resources

Sources

Magner, Candace A. “Barbara Strozzi.”www.barbarastrozzi.com 

Rosand, Ellen, and Beth L. Glixon. “Strozzi, Barbara.” Grove Music Online. 2001.

Works Featured on Expanding the Music Theory Canon

Che si può fare
Excerpt
Pages: Descending Tetrachord, Ground Bass, Intervals