In the dedicatory foreword to her Op. 16 sonatas, Isabella Leonarda stated that she published her music not for worldly acclaim, but to show her devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded from November 2-5, 2021, at the Santa Croce Church in Umbertide, Italy, with a diapason of 415 Hz.
Composer Biography
Isabella Leonarda, a nun, was likely a student of the famous composer Gaspare Casati, choirmaster at Novara Cathedral, between 1635 and 1641.
Compositional Technique
Isabella Leonarda's sonatas typically feature a multi-sectional structure with four to twelve sections, often showing an irregular alternation of slow and fast elements.
Composer Biography
Isabella Leonarda, born in 1620 to an aristocratic family in Novara, entered the Congregation of the Virgins of Sant'Orsola in 1636, where she spent almost seventy years.
Performer Biography
Ensemble Giardino di Delizie, founded in Rome in 2014 by artistic director Ewa Anna Augustynowicz, is a women's Baroque Ensemble specializing in historical performance.
Composition History
Isabella Leonarda's Op. 16 sonatas, which include the trio sonatas on this album, were published after Arcangelo Corelli's Op. 1 and Op. 3, despite being stylistically less advanced.
