Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmenaus classic

Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen by Public domain

Maddalena Sirmen, also Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen, (* 9 December 1745 in Venice; † 15 May 1818 ibid) was a Venetian violinist, singer and composer.

Life and work

Maddalena was born in Venice, the daughter of Gasparina Gambirasi and Pietro Lombardini. She received her musical training from 1753 after an entrance competition for free lessons at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, one of Venice’s four prestigious music schools for girls. At the age of 14 she was already giving violin lessons herself at the Mendicanti. A letter from Tartini, dated 5 March 1760, in which he describes his method of playing the violin, bears witness to her own violin lessons with Giuseppe Tartini. Today, this letter is one of the authentic and important testimonies to ancient performance practice. In 1761 and 1764 the principals of the Mendicanti granted her permission to travel to Padua to perfect her violin playing with Tartini.

In 1767 she successfully petitioned the principals of the Ospedale to release her from her obligations in order to marry the violinist Lodovico Sirmen, a native of Ravenna. Sirmen was then concertmaster at the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo.

In the same year, she embarked on a concert tour with Sirmen that took them to Faenza, Turin and Paris. While Sirmen returned to Italy, she now gave concerts without her husband. She travelled to London, where she gave concerts for three consecutive seasons, first as a violinist, later also as a singer in oratorios. In 1771 her Six Trio Sonatas were printed as Opus 1 by John Welcker in London. From 1772 to 1773 William Napier published her violin concertos, and in 1773 six duets (Opus 4) appeared. In the same year, a version for harpsichord of her violin concertos, arranged by Tommaso Giordani, was published. In 1779 she performed at the court of Dresden, where her fee was double that of the following on the payroll of Italian singers at court. In 1784, accompanied on the journey by her husband, she sang in St Petersburg. A year later she was back in Paris, where she probably received bad reviews for her violin playing for the first time.

Maddalena and Ludovico Sirmen had a daughter together. Another adopted daughter lived in Maddalena Sirmen’s household in Venice. Maddalena Sirmen had independently managed and increased her fortune during her successful career. With the collapse of Venice due to Napoleon’s invasion, she lost her fortune and died impoverished in Venice on 18 May 1818.

Maddalena Sirmen’s compositions were probably written during her time at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, to be performed there by the coro, the orchestra of the Ospedale. Her publications differ in the date of publication and opus numbers: Her six trios appeared as “oevre première” in Amsterdam in 1770, while her six string quartets were first published as “Opera III” in Paris in 1769, under her and her husband’s names. Today, researchers doubt that Ludovico Sirmen was a co-author. These string quartets are now considered to be of considerable importance in the history of the string quartet, like Joseph Haydn’s String Quartets op. 9, which were published in Paris at the same time. The scores of their pieces were in the possession of Leopold Mozart.

Source Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddalena_Laura_Sirmen

Discography








Sheet music

Score for chamber music

Sechs Duettefor Violaviola

for Violaviola

Sechs Duette. Nr. IV-VIfor Violaviola

for Violaviola

String Quartet No. 6 in E major Nr. 6for Streicherstrings





for Streicherstrings

String Quartet No. 4 in B flat major Nr. 4for Streicherstrings





for Streicherstrings

String Quartet No. 5 in F minofor Streicherstrings





for Streicherstrings

String Quartet No. 3 in G minofor Streicherstrings





for Streicherstrings

Six String Quartets/Sechs Streichquartette Nr. 1-6for Streicherstrings





for Streicherstrings

String Quartet No. 2 in B flat major (1772/73)for Streicherstrings





for Streicherstrings

Six Duettos for Two Violinsfor Violineviolin

for Violineviolin

Trio Sonatas 1-3for Cellocello, Violineviolin

for Cellocello, Violineviolin

String Quartets Op 3 Nr 4-6for Cellocello, Streicherstrings, Violaviola, Violineviolin

for Cellocello, Streicherstrings, Violaviola, Violineviolin

String Quartet Op 3 Nr 1-3for Cellocello, Streicherstrings, Violaviola, Violineviolin

for Cellocello, Streicherstrings, Violaviola, Violineviolin

Concerto 1 For Solo Organfor Orgelorgel

  • Konzert
for Orgelorgel

6 Duette 2 (4-6)for Violineviolin



for Violineviolin

6 Duette 1for Violineviolin



for Violineviolin

Quartett E-Dur Nr.6 : für 2 Violinen, Viola und Violoncello Partitur und Stimmenfor Cellocello, Violaviola, Violineviolin

for Cellocello, Violaviola, Violineviolin

Score for orchestra

Konzert für Violine und Orchesfor Klavierpiano, Violineviolin
Edition: Klavierauszugpiano reduction



for Klavierpiano, Violineviolin
Edition: Klavierauszugpiano reduction