Isabella Leonarda

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Isabella Leonarda - Sonata Duodecima

Deriving from the Italian word 'sonare', meaning 'to sound', the term 'sonata' refers to a musical composition either for a solo instrument or a small group of instruments that typically consists of a few movements (or sections), each in a related key, but with a unique musical character. 
Listen to Leonarda's 'Twelfth Sonata':

YouTube - performed by baroque violinist Rachel Podger and theorbo player Daniele Caminiti

YouTube - performed by Bizzarrie Armoniche

Isabella Leonarda Lyrics, Songs, and Albums | Genius
Isabella Leonarda 6 September 1620 - 25 February 1704, Novara
Image source

Isabella Leonarda was an Ursuline nun and a remarkable figure in the history of Western music. It was not unheard of for women to compose music in times gone by, but in virtually all such cases, the music is vocal. This was likely because most female composers in earlier times were nuns. Therefore it is unusual to find a seventeenth-century Italian woman composing textless instrumental music in the new Italian Baroque fashion. 

The Basilica of San Gaudenzio with its dome, symbol of the city.
Basilica of San Gaudenzio, with its dome, symbol of the city of Novara, Italy

At the ageof 16, Isabella was sent to the convent of Santa Orsala (Ursala) and it is possible (though not proven) that Gasparo Casati, master of music at the Novara Cathedral, was her teacher in music. In any case, in 1640, Casati organised the first publication of music written by her, in a volume otherwise devoted to his own music. She composed throughout her life and from the 1670s onward, her music was regularly published, to a total of 20 volumes. She was also a very successful nun, eventually rising to the rank of Mother Superior for her convent and then becoming a Regional Counselor for the Ursalines.

Sacred Latin motets form the majority of Leonarda's life's work,but there are also many strictly instrumental works: 11 sonatas for two violins and one solo sonata for violin and continuo, the Sonata Duodecima.

Sources: 'Encyclopedia Britannica', Blair Johnston from 'All Music'

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