Maddalena Casulana facts for kids
Maddalena Casulana (born around 1544 – died around 1590) was an amazing Italian musician from the late Renaissance period. She played the lute and sang, but most importantly, she was a composer! She made history as the very first female composer to have a whole book of her own music printed and published. This was a huge deal back then!
Her Life and Music
We don't know a lot about Maddalena's life, but we can guess some things from the notes she wrote in her music books. She was probably born in a town called Casole d'Elsa, near Siena, in Italy. She learned music and started her career in Florence.
Her first known music appeared in 1566. It was a collection of four madrigals (a type of song for several voices) called Il Desiderio. Two years later, in Venice, she published her very first book of madrigals. This book, Il primo libro di madrigali, was the first time a woman had a whole book of her music printed and shared with the world! That same year, a famous composer named Orlando di Lasso even performed one of her pieces in Munich.
Maddalena was good friends with Isabella de' Medici, a powerful woman of the time. Maddalena dedicated some of her music to Isabella. She published more books of madrigals in Venice in 1570, 1583, and 1586. At some point, she married a man named Mezari, but we don't know much about him.
Based on her music dedications, it seems she traveled to places like Verona, Milan, and Florence. She likely also visited Venice, where her music was published. Many people in Venice spoke highly of her musical skills. She even made a trip to the French royal court in the 1570s.
Maddalena Casulana was very proud to be a female composer. In the dedication of her first book of madrigals, she wrote something very powerful. She said she wanted to show the world "the vain error of men that they alone possess the gifts of intellect and artistry, and that such gifts are never given to women." This shows how determined she was to prove that women were just as talented as men in music.
Her Musical Style
Maddalena's music style was quite interesting for her time. It used counterpoint (where different melodies play at the same time) and chromatic notes (notes outside the usual scale). Her style was similar to other composers like Marenzio and Philippe de Monte. However, she didn't go as far with experiments as some composers from the Ferrara school, like Luzzaschi or Gesualdo.
Her melodies were easy to sing and always fit the words of the song perfectly. Maddalena loved to create dramatic conversations in her vocal music. For example, in her madrigal "Morte - Che vôi - Te Chiamo?" (Death - What do you want - I call you?), she makes different voices sing back and forth. This really brings the questions and answers in the text to life.
Other composers, like Philippe de Monte, thought highly of her work. The fact that Lassus performed her music at a wedding shows that he was also impressed. We know of 66 madrigals by Maddalena Casulana that have survived over the centuries.
Recently, in 2022, even more of her music was found! Researchers discovered 17 more madrigals. Twelve of these were played for the first time in over 400 years on International Women's Day in 2022, as part of BBC Radio 3's special programs. These lost pieces were found by Laurie Stras, a music professor. She found a missing part of Casulana's 1583 madrigal book in a library in Moscow. It seems the book was taken from a library in Gdańsk during World War II.
See also
In Spanish: Maddalena Casulana para niños
