Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana (also "Lucretia") (3 July 1590 – 7 May 1662) was an Italian singer, organist, and composer. She entered the

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermita ...

convent of S Christina in

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in 1598. She was taught by her aunt, Camilla Bombacci, who was the convent organist, and by Ottavio Vernizzi, who was the unofficial music master. Vizzana's works are influenced by ''

stile moderno Seconda pratica, Italian for "second practice", is the counterpart to prima pratica and is sometimes referred to as Stile moderno. The term "Seconda pratica" first appeared in 1603 in Giovanni Artusi's book ''Seconda Parte dell'Artusi, overo Delle i ...

'' ('' seconda prattica'') music, especially the works of

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

Biography and works

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 The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

that nuns must be confined within a convent. Vizzana's ''O invictissima Christi martir'' is an example of this. This piece along with ''Sonet vox tua in auribus cordis mei''; ''Usquequo oblivisceris me in finem''; ''O magnum mysterium''; ''Ornaverunt faciem templi''; ''Domine Dominus noster, quam admirabile''; and ''Protector noster'' can all be found in Martha Furman Schleifer and Sylvia Glickman's ''Women Composers: Music through the Ages.'' However, Vizzana's music also reflects a much older practice of female spirituality stretching back to the later Middle Ages as opposed to the new post-Tridentine religious traditions for women. 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 Ludovico Ludovisi (22 or 27 October 1595 – 18 November 1632) was an Italian cardinal and statesman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an art connoisseur who formed a famous collection of antiquities, housed at the Villa Ludovisi in Rome. B ...

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.

Notes

: 1.Also spelled Vizana

External links

References

*Craig A. Monson. "Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed September 15, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). *Craig A. Monson. ''Disembodied Voices: Music and Culture in an Early Modern Italian Convent.'' Berkeley: University of California, 1995. 7,110,111, 115. Print. *Craig A. Monson. ''Putting Bolognese Nuns in Their Place'' Women's Voices across Musical Worlds. Boston: Northeastern UP, 2004. Print. *Craig A. Monson. ''Divas in the Convent'': Nuns, Music, and Defiance in Seventeenth-Century Italy. Published June 2012. Print. *Martha Furman Schleifer and Sylvia Glickman. Women Composers: Music through the Ages. Vol. 1. New York: G.K. Hall, 1996. Print. Italian Baroque composers Italian women classical composers 1590 births 1662 deaths Musicians from Bologna 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Camaldolese Order 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century women composers {{Italy-composer-stub