Camilla de Rossi (
fl. 1670–1710) was an Italian
composer known for composing
oratorios in
Vienna during the early 1700s.[1] De Rossi has the most surviving works of any female composer in
Northern Italy and
Austria from the
Baroque period.
Biography
Born in the late 17th century, Camilla likely had
Roman citizenship, as she signed the title pages of her manuscripts as Romana, meaning 'a woman of Roman descent'.[2] 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.[1][2]
Work
Rossi's surviving works have been praised for an "intimate knowledge" of stringed instruments, with professor Barbara Garvey Jackson describing her "keen interest in tone color".[3] Her oratorios are all for solo voices with orchestral accompaniment; none of her works use choruses.[2]
She calls for various instruments (
chalumeaux,
archlute,
trumpets,
oboe) with string orchestra (including continuo). Her oratorio, Il Sacrifizio di Abramo demands two chalumeaux, an instrument first heard in Vienna in 1707, one year before her oratorio was performed for the first time in 1708. Her
cantataFrá Dori e Fileno is for strings and two soloists.
List of works
Oratorios, for solo voices, orchestra (MSS incl. some libs and orch pts in A-Wm; arias ed. B.G. Jackson in Arias from Oratorios by Women Composers of the Eighteenth Century, Fayetteville, AR, 1987–99):
Frà Dori, e Fileno (cant.), S, A, str orch, D-Dl, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1983)
Discography
Rossi, Camilla de: Sinfonia [with lute] from "Il Sacrifizio di Abramo, Perf. Terrie Baune, Judith Nelson and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic. Providence, RI. Newport Classic, 1990
Oratorio "Sant'Alessio", perf. Ensemble
Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci, director (soloists Graham Pushee, countertenor; Rosa Dominguez, soprano; Agnieszka Kowalezyk, soprano; William Lombardi, tenor), pan classics 510 136, 2001
"Il Sacrifizio di Abramo", Weser-Renaissance, Manfred Cordes, conductor (Soloists Susanna Rydén, soprano; Rolf Popken, alto; Jon Strömberg, tenor), Classic Produktion Osnabrück, cpo 999 3712, 1996
Santa Beatrice d'Este, Musica Fiorita; Daniela Dolci, conductor; (Soloists Graciella Oddone: Santa Beatrice, soprano; Denis Lakey: countertenor), ORF Edition Alte Musik, CD 3092
Jackson, Barbara Garvey: "Camilla de Rossi," Composers born 1600–1699, New York, G.K. Hall, 1996, ed. Sylvia Glickman and Martha Furman Schleifer.
Jackson, Barbara Garvey, Arias from oratorios by women composers of the eighteenth century. Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. Fayetteville, Arkansas, ClarNan Editions, 1987–1999. Volume 1 also includes Catterina Benedetta Grazianini and Maria Margharita Grimani.