Camilla de rossi biography

Camilla de Rossi (fl.
Camilla de Rossi, Romana was one of four women who composed oratorios in Vienna in the early 1700s.
Camilla de Rossi was an Italian composer known for her oratorios composed in Vienna during the early 1700s.

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Camilla de Rossi (fl. 1707 – 1710) was an Italian composer. Several women are known to have composed music in northern Italy and Austria during the period 1670-1725. Of those women, though there is no remaining biographical information, Camilla de Rossi by far has the most surviving works. The only known biographical detail about Camilla is her Roman citizenship. She always signed the title pages of her manuscripts as Romana, or a woman of Roman descent. Rossi composed four oratorios for solo voices and orchestra, all of which were commissioned by Emperor Joseph I of Austria and were performed in the Imperial Chapel.

All of Rossi’s surviving works demonstrate an intimate knowledge of stringed instruments and, as Barbara Garvey Jackson describes, "a keen interest in tone color". Her pieces call for a combination of ensembles with chalumeau, archlute, and strings. While her four movement sinfonia, "Il Sacrifizio di Abramo," reveals her knowledge of instruments, strings in particular, but also demands a chalumeau, an instrument first heard in 1707, one year bef

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Sources

Camilla de Rossi, Romana was one of four women who composed oratorios in Vienna in the early 1700s. She likely had musical training on stringed instruments, as evidenced by the exploration of unique instrumental colors in her compositions. All of her oratorios were written for solo voices and orchestra, alternating throughout between recitatives and arias. Four of de Rossi’s oratorios, written for Holy Week and other church celebrations at the Imperial Chapel in Vienna under Emperor Joseph I, and one cantata, have survived. Her first oratorio, Santa Beatrice d'Este (1707), was commissioned by the Emperor and later performed in Perugia in 1712. Il Sacrifizio de Abramo was written for Holy Week in 1708 and employed a single reed woodwind, the chalumeau, for interesting effect. The following year she was both librettist and composer for Il figliuol prodigo (1709). Her last two known works are San Alessio (1710) and Fra dore e fileno, a cantata for 2 voices and strings. Even though she was extremely talented, de Rossi was likely never paid for her an

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Camilla de Rossi facts for kids

Camilla de Rossi (fl. 1670–1710) was an Italian composer known for composing oratorios in Vienna during the early 1700s. Although several women are known to have composed music in Northern Italy and Austria during this period, there is little remaining biographical information and of these women, Camilla de Rossi has the most surviving works.

Biography

Camilla had Roman citizenship. She signed the title pages of her manuscripts as Romana, or 'a woman of Roman descent'. Rossi composed four oratorios for solo voices and orchestra, all of which were commissioned by EmperorJoseph I of Austria and were performed in the Imperial Chapel in Vienna.

All of Rossi’s surviving works demonstrate an intimate knowledge of stringed instruments and, as Barbara Garvey Jackson describes, "a keen interest in tone color". Her oratorios are all for solo voices; none of her works use choruses. She calls for various instruments (chalumeaux, archlute, trumpets, oboe) with string orchestra (including continuo). Her oratorio, Il Sacrifizio di Abramo, reveals her kn