Michielina (also known as Michaelis or Michieletta) della Pietà (''fl. ca.'' 1700 – 1744) was an Italian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and teacher of music. A

foundling Foundling or The Foundling may refer to: Places * Foundling hospital, an institution where abandoned children were cared for ** Foundling Hospital, Dublin, founded 1704 ** Foundling Hospital, Cork, founded 1737 ** Foundling Hospital, founded 17 ...

admitted in infancy to the

Ospedale della Pietà The Ospedale della Pietà was a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice. Like other Venetian ''ospedali'', the Pietà was first established as a hospice for the needy. A group of Venetian nuns, called the Consorelle di Santa Maria dell’Um ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, della Pietà received a thorough musical education from early childhood in the convent's ''coro'', or music school; she became its principal organist and was active as a violinist in the orchestra. As a composer she was active during the tenures of

Francesco Gasparini Francesco Gasparini (19 March 1661 – 22 March 1727) was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher whose works were performed throughout Italy, and also on occasion in Germany and England. Biography Born in Camaiore, near Lucca, he studied ...

Giovanni Porta Giovanni Porta (c. 1675 – 21 June 1755) was an Italian opera composer. His opera '' Argippo'', to a libretto by Domenico Lalli, was premiered in Venice in 1717.Freeman, Daniel E. (1992)''The Opera Theater of Count Franz Anton Von Sporck ...

, Gennaro D'Alessandro,

Nicola Porpora Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Giacinto Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students include ...

, and

Andrea Bernasconi Andrea Bernasconi (c. 1706 – 24 January 1784) was an Italian composer. He began his career in his native country as a composer of operas. In 1755 he was appointed to the post of ''Kapellmeister'' at the Bavarian court in Munich where he ...

as heads of the school; she was further licensed to teach in 1726. She is known to have composed a

litany Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''wikt:litania, litania'' from Ancient Greek wikt:λιτα ...

for the Feast of the Nativity in 1740, and to have written a setting of the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

Pange lingua ''Pange lingua'' may refer to either of two Mediaeval Latin hymns: *"'' Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis''" by Venantius Fortunatus, a.D. 570, extolling the triumph of the Cross (the Passion of Jesus Christ) and thus used during Holy Week ...

'' in 1741. Nothing further is known of her activities or her life. Along with Agata and

Santa della Pietà Santa (also known as Sanza or Samaritana) della Pietà (''fl. ca.'' 1725 – ''ca.'' 1750, died after 1774) was an Italian singer, composer, and violinist. She grew up as a foundling in the Ospedale della Pietà, where she received a full musical ...

, della Pietà was one of three foundlings of the Ospedale to become a composer later in life.

References

*Berdes, Jane L. "Della Pietà, Michielina ichaelis, Michieletta(''fl'' Venice, c. 1701-44). Italian violinist, organist, teacher and composer." The '' Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers.''

Julie Anne Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...

and

Rhian Samuel Rhian Samuel (born Aberdare, Wales, 1944) is a Welsh composer who resided in the USA for many years. She has composed over 140 published works, including orchestral, chamber, vocal, and choral music. She now divides her time between mid-Wales a ...

, eds.

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

;

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995. pp. 138–9. Italian Baroque composers Italian women classical composers Composers from Venice Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Venetian women 18th-century Italian women composers {{italy-composer-stub