Camilla De Rossi

Camilla de Rossi ( fl. 1670–1710) was an Italian composer known for composing oratorios in Vienna during the early 1700s. Although several women are known to have composed music in Northern Italy and Austria during this period, there is little remaining biographical information about these women. Camilla de Rossi has the most surviving works.

Biography

Camilla had Roman citizenship. She signed the title pages of her manuscripts as ''Romana,'' or 'a woman of Roman descent'. Rossi composed four oratorios for solo voices and orchestra, all of which were commissioned by Emperor Joseph I of Austria and were performed in the Imperial Chapel in Vienna.

All of Rossi’s surviving works demonstrate an intimate knowledge of stringed instruments and, as Barbara Garvey Jackson describes, "a keen interest in tone color". Her oratorios are all for solo voices; none of her works use choruses. She calls for various instruments (chalumeaux, archlute, trumpets, oboe) with string orchestra (including continuo). Her oratorio, ''Il Sacrifizio di Abramo,'' reveals her knowledge of instruments, strings in particular, but also demands two chalumeaux, an instrument first heard in Vienna in 1707, one year before her oratorio was performed for the first time in 1708. Her cantata ''Frá Dori e Fileno'' is for strings and two soloists. Where she learned these skills as a musician and as a composer are unknown as of today.

Works

*Oratorios, for solo voices, orchestra (MSS incl. some libs and orch pts in A-Wm; arias ed. B.G. Jackson in Arias from Oratorios by Women Composers of the Eighteenth Century, Fayetteville, AR, 1987–99):
*Santa Beatrice d’Este ( Benedetto Pamphili), 1707, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1986);
*Il sacrifizio di Abramo (F. Dario), 1708, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1984);
*Il figliuol prodigo (C. de Rossi),1709;
*Sant’Alessio, 1710;
*Frà Dori, e Fileno (cant.), S, A, str orch, D-Dl, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1983)

Discography

*Rossi, Camilla de: Sinfonia ith lutefrom "Il Sacrifizio di Abramo, Perf. Terrie Baune, Judith Nelson and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic. Providence, RI. Newport Classic, 1990
*Oratorio "Sant'Alessio", perf. Ensemble Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci, director (soloists Graham Pushee, countertenor; Rosa Dominguez, soprano; Agnieszka Kowalezyk, soprano; William Lombardi, tenor), pan classics 510 136, 2001
*"Il Sacrifizio di Abramo", Weser-Renaissance, Manfred Cordes, conductor (Soloists Susanna Rydén, soprano; Rolf Popken, alto; Jon Strömberg, tenor), Classic Produktion Osnabrück, cpo 999 3712, 1996
* ''Santa Beatrice d'Este'', Musica Fiorita; Daniela Dolci, conductor; (Soloists Graciella Oddone: Santa Beatrice, soprano; Denis Lakey: countertenor), ORF Edition Alte Musik, CD 3092

Bibliography

*Jackson, Barbara Garvey: "Camilla de Rossi," Grove Music Online (1/28/07), http://www.grovemusic.com
*Jackson, Barbara Garvey: "Camilla de Rossi," ''Composers born 1600–1699,'' New York, G.K. Hall, 1996, ed. Sylvia Glickman and Martha Furman Schleifer.
*Jackson, Barbara Garvey, Arias from oratorios by women composers of the eighteenth century. Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. Fayetteville, Arkansas, ClarNan Editions, 1987–1999. Volume 1 also includes Catterina Benedetta Grazianini and Maria Margharita Grimani
*Jackson, Barbara Garvey. "Oratorios by Command of the Emperor: The Music of Camilla de Rossi," ''Current Musicology'' 42 (1986), 7–19.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Camilla de
Italian Baroque composers
Italian women classical composers
18th-century Italian composers
18th-century Italian women
18th-century women composers