La Ceccenia
Caitlyn Park
MUS201: Music History I
December 14th, 2017
Like many musicians today, Francesca lived to walk the line between working for someone and creating for herself. She won in many ways, becoming the first women to publish a substantial book of music, but she was stunted by her class and the control of the man
Francesca’s actions make it clear that she loved the music. She returned to it day after day
Things she overcame, her mother died when she was five, her father wasn’t a great guy, he was on house arrest briefly for refusing to acknowledge authority he had approximately 10 children by different women, and a love for gambling so even though he was a highly paid court musician, there wasn’t always enough money. She was a women in a profession that sought to maintain a fairly low glass ceiling, and as is true of today, she was held to a much higher standard than her male counterparts (her lack of publishing). In spite of all this, she went on to become the first women to compose an entire opera, and the first women to publish a book of sacred and secular songs. She was the highest paid musician at the Medici court, and she did not suffer the distain of her colleagues as her father had.
Talk about how the medici’s where super important for the development of renaissance music
One of the greatest traits Francesca did not learn from her father, was how to make friends.
The Medici, like many other rulers, used art to legitimize their rule (32)
Early Life:
It would not be a stretch to argue that Francesca Caccini’s most important influence was her father, Giulio Caccini. Giulio lived from 1545-1618, and as a prominent member of the Florentine Camerata, he was an extremely important figurehead in the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque era. Among his many accomplishments was his success in establishing the recitative and his contribution to Peri’s L’Euridice, the first opera for which we still have a complete score. Caccini would also go on to publish a competing setting of L’Euridice at the same time as Peri’s. His most important work, arguably, is his collection of monodies with basso continuo entitled Le Nouve Musiche. The implications and influence of this song book could hardly be overstated, especially because of the unique instruction manual he included in the lengthy preface. In terms of opera, court employment, and publishing, Francesca followed closely behind her father, capitalizing on the road he’d paved before her.
Though Francesca’s family was chaotic, they were also extremely talented. She had the privilege of an extensive education in music and literature, as well as the skill and opportunity to participate in professional performance arts as a young child. Francesca was thirteen years old when her father assumed his final post as the director of music at the Medici court. In an elaborate, expensive, five-hour opera-like work composed by Giulio, Francesca made her stage debut. She also consistently appeared in her father’s primary chamber ensemble until she went on to replace it with an ensemble of her own.
1604 was a crucial year for Francesca’s life and her career. French royalty, Henry IV and his wife Marie de Medici requested the Giulio’s services for their own court. The travel was dicey, but Francesca spread her talent through Italy as the family made their way to France. Giulio and his ensemble were met with a lukewarm reception. Anna Beer, the author of the meticulously researched Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music, writes that “Giulio’s arrogance made him few friends at the French court, and the monarchs themselves quarreled over which of them would pay for the musicians. Everything changed however, when Francesca sang”. It was here, in the French court of a Medici Queen, that Francesca began to discover and unlock the power she had as an individual musician. She would soon learn that she her talent and character stood on their own, one day to be nearly separated from the secondary esteem of her father’s reputation. Everyone was vying for her attention, desperate for the prestige that would have come from having her in their legion of artists. Still only sixteen, and still at the mercy of her father’s possessive wishes, she lost the opportunity to join the French court. Instead went to Modena for six months to teach one of the princesses there.
Working Woman:
Watching, practicing, and growing, La Ceccenia was poised for another breakthrough. A particularly important figure in Francesca’s life story was the Grand-Duchess of the Medici family, Christine de Lorraine. Christine was in a similar place as Francesca in that she was at the introduction of a new chapter in her life. The duke’s health was rapidly declining, and it was time for Christine to make a name for herself. She had power to exact. She needed to cause a scene, and a big one, so she commissioned the grand nephew of “the Michelangelo”, Buonarroti, to create something spectacular. Buonarroti, a poet, then turned to Francesca for the music. Francesca, a woman that knew the importance of seizing opportunity, jumped (with her father’s permission) at the chance. The performance would take place at the annual Carnival, for which the Medici family were known to organize elaborate events. The reception of Francesca’s music was outstanding, and the project as a whole displayed her potential in all its glory.
Following her debut, Francesca began 1608 as “la musica” to the Medici court in Tuscany thanks to the Grand Duchess. Her job description was lengthy. She was expected to sing in every setting you could think of, play numerous instruments, and compose at the drop of a hat for any and all Medici events. It’s important to note here that she was still only twenty years old. This fact speaks volumes to her skill and talent but also to the level of professionalism she was capable of. In addition to the public events Francesca composed for, she was also responsible for copious amounts of church music. Beer writes that “by the end of the decade, [Francesca was] the most important composer for Holy Week in Florence”. She was the first woman since Hildegard Von Bingen, several centuries prior, to achieve such a feat.
Musicologists are still uncovering just how many projects Francesca contributed to. Her position as one of the highest paid court musicians in Florence did not prevent her name from mysteriously disappearing from the credit list. She was also at the mercy of her employers. Recognition and individuality were contrary to the self-involved motives of the royalty she was indebted to. This dilemma might sound familiar to the modern day musician. In terms of money, musicians in the 17th century needed patronage to be successful. Though the money doesn’t come from the monarchy anymore, roughly the same system exists. Creatively, many musicians might have to choose between the art they want to puruse, and the art they know will make them a living. In the best case scenario, those former and latter line up, but finding a way to do a little of both is the next best thing.
By Women and for Women:
Francesca found a short lived but resounding victory with her Il primo libro delle musiche. Heavily influenced by the style of her father’s Le Nouve Musiche, Francesca’s first of two published works is a masterpiece in more ways than one. Il primo libro is a collection of sacred and secular monodies of varying form. Carolyn Raney, in her brief exposition on Il primo libro writes that the book was “the most extensive collection of solo songs by a single composer that had hitherto appered in print. It [was] also the first body of sacred monodies”. Il primo libro is yet another example of how Francesca powerfully trailblazed in her profession.
The book appears to have been written as a teaching tool. Francesca was a highly experienced teacher in the Medici court, and she knew precisely what was expected of her female singers. As a whole, Il primo libro contains practical application of all the skills necessary to succeed as a professional singer. In contrast to her father’s Le Nouve Musiche, which was a similar collection of monodies, Francesca was uniquely versatile in the variety of her compositions. She compiled several different forms including hymni, motets, arias, madrigals, canzonetti and more. Il primo libro contains a number of duets, but the majority are solos. In each song, Francesca displays an acute ability to express emotion and to marry the text with the music.
In terms of performance practice, it was common for the composer to dictate which instrument they preferred accompany which song. Though there are two songs that have specific instrumental notation (for a Baroque guitar), Francesca chooses not to indicate her preference in any of the other 34 songs. It’s safe to assume that the lute would have been the most appropriate, as the keyboard had not yet taken over as the dominant accompaniment instrument. Her works include the expected basso continuo, of which the performer would be expected to realize him/herself. Note that usually the singer was expected to accompany themselves. Interestingly, Francesca specifically uses compound bass figures that are harder to find in the works of her contemporaries. This marks her attention to detail and her emphasis on “very specific voice leading”.
Francesca (and almost everyone else writing solo song in this time period) relied considerably on Giulio’s instruction for ornamentation and technique. Singers were eager to show off their voices, and tasteful embellishment was expected in any performance. The only ornament that Francesca deliberately notated was the trillo. Everything else expected of the performer, e.g. phrasing, dynamics, articulation, was interpretive common practice. It would be several decades before the arrival of the dynamic and articulation markings we are so familiar with today.
Word declamation and word painting were important to early baroque composers because they wanted to move their audiences emotionally, and being able to understand the words was a crucial factor. Francesca put great care into her melodies and she is known for her varied strophic form. However, whenever she alters the melody, she does so in a way that enhances rather than detracts from the words. She establishes herself as a composer perhaps a little more comfortable with dissonance than her contemporaries. Diminished chords, dissonant intervals, appoggiaturas, and delayed resolutions are all characteristic of her work, and these tools bring depth and meaning to the text. I call this
Though Il primo libro de musiche was a significant contribution to song literature, Francesca is most known for being the first woman to compose and publish an opera. By this time, Francesca had moved on and was working for Christine de Lorraine’s daughter-in-law. Maria Magdalena, the Regent archduchess of the Medici court in Florence, decided that she once again needed to use art to advance her political motives. A potential suitor Marie’s daughter, Crown Prince Wladislaw of Poland, was planning a visit for the carnival season, so something special had to be arranged. Francesca, with decades of experience under her belt, and now one of the most popular performers and composers of her time, was poised for an exciting project.
La Liberzione di Ruggiero is the title of Francesca’s 75 minute opera-like composition. Beer writes that “La Liberzione is, according to its title page, un balletto composto in musica, in other words an entirely sung, plotted entertainment meant to end in dancing”. This work is a true precursor to opera because it includes a plot and the music never stops. There is some debate however, as to whether or not this work can truly be labeled as an opera. I would venture to say that this work is considered an opera simply because it consists of all the right ingredients. It’s based on a mythical story that would have been well known at the time. There is no spoken dialouge. There is dancing, scenery, costumes, and plenty of instruments. It was also composed well after what are often considered the birth of modern opera: Peri’s L’Euridice and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, which Francesca would have been familiar with. Suffice it to say that Laliberzione is, at the very least, music theatre.
In terms of impact, Francesca’s greatest achievement was the precedent she set for those to come. Even the briefeststudy of history reminds us that our society has consistently speculated on the skill and value of women.