Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704), a composer, spent 69 years in an Ursuline convent in Novara, where she composed over 200 musical works.
Historical Context
During the Baroque era, talented young women from high society were typically encouraged to be performers (instrumentalists or singers) rather than composers, and their compositions were rarely published.
Interpretation
Les Kapsber'girls aim to find new approaches to interpreting historical sources, drawing inspiration from traditional repertoire and exploring works from the 17th and 18th centuries with a 'lateral-thinking' perspective.
Composer Biography
Antonia Bembo (c. 1643-1715), a composer, left her native Venice for France to escape a violent husband and dedicated seven handwritten collections of works to her patron, Louis XIV.
Performer Biography
Les Kapsber'girls, an ensemble formed in 2015 by lutenist Albane Imbs, is named after Hieronymus Kapsberger (1580-1651), a lute virtuoso and composer.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The all-woman ensemble Les Kapsber'girls aims to give a voice and platform to selected works by women composers, a mission born from realizing how few female composers' works they had played in their careers.
Compositional Technique
The instrumental pieces by Hieronymus Kapsberger (1580-1651) on this album, taken from his 1615 collection Balli, gagliarde e correnti, are performed in a pizzicato dialogue between harp, theorbo, and bass viol.
