Chiara Margarita Cozzolani
Encyclopedia
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (27 November 1602 – c. 1676–78), was a composer
, singer and Benedictine nun
. She spent her adult life cloistered in the convent of Santa Radegonda, Milan
, where she became abbess
and stopped composing. More than a dozen cloistered women published sacred music in seventeenth-century Italy.
Born into a wealthy family in Milan, Italy, Margarita Cozzolani entered the convent and took her vows in 1620. She added "Chiara" as her religious name.
Her writings are very prolific, with some stylistic characteristics being the usage of sequences and switching modes.Robert Kendrick, "The Traditions of Milanese Convent Music and the Sacred Dialogues of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani", in C.A. Monson, ed., The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion, and the Arts in Early Modern Europe (in series Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Civilization) University of Michigan Press 1992. Her Concerti Sacri had followed suit in the Lombard style. Her four musical opere were published between 1640 and 1650, which is the date of her Vespers
, perhaps her best-known single work. There is also a Paschal Mass. Her first publication, Primavera di fiori musicali, is lost.
In the convent of Santa Radegonda, the nuns sang during major religious feast days. This drew a great deal of attention from the outside world. As abbess of Santa Radegonda, Cozzolani defended the nuns' music, which came under attack from Archbishop Alfonso Litta
, who wanted to reform the convent by limiting the nuns' practice of music and other contact with the outside world. The archbishop's qualms could not have been reassured by the ecstatic report of Filippo Picinelli, in Ateneo dei letterati milanesi (Milan, 1670) who found that "the nuns of Santa Radegonda of Milan are gifted with such rare and exquisite talents in music that they are acknowledged to be the best singers of Italy. They wear the Cassinese habits of St. Benedict
, but they seem to any listener to be white and melodious swans, who fill hearts with wonder, and spirit away tongues in their praise. Among these sisters, Donna Chiara Margarita Cozzolani merits the highest praise, Chiara in name but even more so in merit, and Margarita for her unusual and excellent nobility of invention...".
Donna Chiara Margarita Cozzolani disappears from the convent's records after 1676. The first modern edition of her complete motet
s, for one to five voices and continuo
, appeared in 1998.
Robert L. Kendrick. (Oxford University Press, USA (November 21, 2002)
Celestial Sirens: Nuns and Their Music in Early Modern Milan by
Robert L. Kendrick. (Oxford Monographs on Music, 1996)
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, singer and Benedictine nun
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
. She spent her adult life cloistered in the convent of Santa Radegonda, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, where she became abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
and stopped composing. More than a dozen cloistered women published sacred music in seventeenth-century Italy.
Born into a wealthy family in Milan, Italy, Margarita Cozzolani entered the convent and took her vows in 1620. She added "Chiara" as her religious name.
Her writings are very prolific, with some stylistic characteristics being the usage of sequences and switching modes.Robert Kendrick, "The Traditions of Milanese Convent Music and the Sacred Dialogues of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani", in C.A. Monson, ed., The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion, and the Arts in Early Modern Europe (in series Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Civilization) University of Michigan Press 1992. Her Concerti Sacri had followed suit in the Lombard style. Her four musical opere were published between 1640 and 1650, which is the date of her Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
, perhaps her best-known single work. There is also a Paschal Mass. Her first publication, Primavera di fiori musicali, is lost.
In the convent of Santa Radegonda, the nuns sang during major religious feast days. This drew a great deal of attention from the outside world. As abbess of Santa Radegonda, Cozzolani defended the nuns' music, which came under attack from Archbishop Alfonso Litta
Alfonso Litta
Alfonso Michele Litta was an Italian cardinal, an archbishop of Milan and Papal governor of the Marches.-See also:* Litta...
, who wanted to reform the convent by limiting the nuns' practice of music and other contact with the outside world. The archbishop's qualms could not have been reassured by the ecstatic report of Filippo Picinelli, in Ateneo dei letterati milanesi (Milan, 1670) who found that "the nuns of Santa Radegonda of Milan are gifted with such rare and exquisite talents in music that they are acknowledged to be the best singers of Italy. They wear the Cassinese habits of St. Benedict
Benedict of Nursia
Saint Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint, honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the patron saint of Europe and students.Benedict founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, about to the east of Rome, before moving to Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. There is no...
, but they seem to any listener to be white and melodious swans, who fill hearts with wonder, and spirit away tongues in their praise. Among these sisters, Donna Chiara Margarita Cozzolani merits the highest praise, Chiara in name but even more so in merit, and Margarita for her unusual and excellent nobility of invention...".
Donna Chiara Margarita Cozzolani disappears from the convent's records after 1676. The first modern edition of her complete motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, for one to five voices and continuo
Figured bass
Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...
, appeared in 1998.
External links
- The Cozzolani Project
- Chiara Margarita Cozzolani
- Deborah Roberts on Italian 17th-century cloistered musicians and composers
Further Reading
The Sounds of Milan, 1585-1650, byRobert L. Kendrick. (Oxford University Press, USA (November 21, 2002)
Celestial Sirens: Nuns and Their Music in Early Modern Milan by
Robert L. Kendrick. (Oxford Monographs on Music, 1996)