- Vittoria Aleotti
Vittoria Aleotti (c. 1575 – after 1620), believed to be the same as Raffaella Aleotti ("c." 1570–"after" 1646) was an Italian Augustinian nun, a
composer andorganist .She was born in
Ferrara to the prominent architectGiovanni Battista Aleotti , and was mentioned in his will, written in 1631. When she was young, she overheard the music lessons of an older sister, and subsequently amazed her family by her facility on theharpsichord at the age of six.Aleotti was then taught by Alessandro Milleville for two years before being sent to study at the musically renowned
Augustinian convent of St. Vito, Ferrara at the age of 14. She later became the prioress of the convent from 1636 to 1639.Aleotti was mentioned in M.A. Guarini's 1621 guide to Ferrara as very knowledgeable about music, and he also mentioned her publications of
motet s and madrigals. She set a number of madrigals byGiovanni Battista Guarini , which her father later sent to Count del Zaffo, who had them printed inVenice byGiacomo Vincenti in 1593. Another collection of motets was printed by Amadino in 1593, and was the first sacred music by a woman to appear in print.In addition to her composing, she also was organist at the convent, and led a large ensemble of instrumentalists and singers who presented concerts. According to writings by
Ercole Bottrigari (a contemporary writer) this was one of the finest ensembles in Italy.It is most likely that Vittoria was her birth name, and Raffaella the name she took when she became a nun.
Extant works by Alleotti
*Motet: Angelus ad pastores ait (text of Luke 2:10-11)
References
*Suzanne G. Cusick. "Raffaella Aleotti", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessed
February 15 2006 ), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).
*Suzanne G. Cusick. "Vittoria Aleotti", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessedFebruary 15 2006 ), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).External links
* [http://orpheus.tamu.edu/couch/Courses/Collegium/Fall1999_Collegium_Program.PDF modern performance notes on Aleotti]
* [http://www.haendel.it/compositori/aleotti.htm commercial CD recording of Alleotti's music]Persondata
NAME=Aleotti, Vittoria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Raffaella Aleotti
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Italian composer and organist
DATE OF BIRTH=c. 1575
PLACE OF BIRTH=Ferrara
DATE OF DEATH=after 1620
PLACE OF DEATH=Ferrara
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