Francesca Campanaaus barock

Francesca Campana (* 1 January 1601 in Rome; † 1 July 1665 in Rome) was an Italian composer and singer.

Life

Francesca Campana was born in Rome, presumably as the daughter of Andrea Campana, the wife of the composer Giovan Carlo Rossi and sister-in-law of Luigi Rossi.
Through her family and her marriage, it is known that she travelled in the highest musical and cultural circles in Rome. She obviously benefited from an education that was only given to very few women of her time. This opportunity and her talent led to her becoming a ‘brilliant singer, harpsichordist and composer’, as the poet Fulvio Testi defined her.

She was considered one of the best singers in Rome. In Rome, she was also known as an outstanding harpsichordist and composer of the ‘spineta’, a so-called harpsichord harp.

In 1629, she published a collection of twelve arias for one, two and three voices. ‘Arie a una, due e tre voci’. She presented this collection to the nobleman Don Luigi Gonzaga from Mantua with a dedication: ‘I dedicate this collection to Your Excellency, for if I am reproached for being too bold to publish it, I must at least be praised for being prudent in the dedication, for with the patronage of such a prince I acquire a unique merit for myself.’

The collection contained arias that were written in stanzaic form and utilised many expressive chromaticisms and other dramatic features that fully expressed the meaning of the text.

Also in 1629, two of her works, the song ‘Pargoletta vezzosetta’ for solo voice and ‘Donna, se’l mio servir’, a continuous madrigal for two voices, were published by Robletti, an important printer in Rome, indicating the popularity of her compositions. Campana continued to sing after this, but nothing is known about later publications. Francesca Campana probably married the organist Giovan Carlo Rossi after 1633.

On 3 December 1633, the poet Fulvio Testi praised Francesca as a master of her art in a letter to Francesco D’este, Duke of Modena.

Source Wiki: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Campana