Paola Massarenghi was an Italian composer. Only one of her works survives, Quando spiega l'insegn'al sommo padre, a spiritual madrigal

Madrigal (music)

A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....

. It was printed in Arcangelo Gherardini's Primo libro de madrigali a cinque voci. The publication, from Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

 in 1585, is dedicated to Alfonso Fontanelli

Alfonso Fontanelli

Alfonso Fontanelli was an Italian composer, writer, diplomat, courtier, and nobleman of the late Renaissance...

, and while other contributors are listed in the dedication, Massarenghi was left out. Massarenghi probably came from a wealthy family, since they were able to get Duke Ranuccio I Farnese to help get a musical education for Massarenghi's younger brother, Giovanni Battista Massarenghi, also a composer.