Lucrezia Orsina Vizzanaaus barock

Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana (* 3 July 1590 in Bologna; † 7 May 1662 in Bologna) was an Italian singer, organist and composer.

Life

Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana was the daughter of a noble Bolognese family and was given, together with her sister, to the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Cristina in Bologna at the age of 8, which had a special name because of its music. She probably received music lessons there from her aunt Camilla Bombacci, the organist, novice mistress and later abbess of the monastery, as well as from the organist of St Petronio (and unofficial bandmaster of the monastery) Ottavio Vernizzi (1549-1649). Adriano Banchieri, Gabriele Fattorini and others dedicated double-choir works to the monastery, which points to concertante choral practice in the monastery. She became a novice at the age of eleven and took her perpetual vows in 1606. Vizzana composed the motets of the Componimenti musicali in the style of the Seconda pratica.

Vizzana’s motets were published in Componimenti musicali de motetti concertati a l e più voci in 1623, the only collection of music ever published by a Bolognese nun. There are ten solo motets, eight duets, one trio, and one quartet all with continuo. The works feature other characteristics of the stile moderno. Furthermore, many convents used motets for double choir as a way of exploiting the musical gifts of the nuns in reaction to the decree from the Council of Trent that nuns must be confined within a convent, although Vizzana’s publications did not include works for double choir. Most of her motets were created for feast days, reflecting many liturgical, artistic, and devotional moments in convent life. However, other motets allude to the inner strife in the convent and its decline from 1620 onward.

In 1622, an anonymous letter was sent to the Cardinal Archbishop Ludovico Ludovisi in Rome reporting many scandals and issues in the convent, especially the issue of conflict within the convent. These allegations were followed by a long investigation of the convent that caused much inner strife amongst the nuns. It was revealed that much of the inquietude and rivalries amongst the nuns resulted from the musical life of the convent. It is often believed that the stress of the turmoil led to Vizzana’s early retirement from music and mental instability.

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