Cornelia Calegari [Maria Cattarina (also known as Maria Caterina)] (1644 – after 1675), was an Italian composer, singer, organist, and nun.Thompson, Oscar, Nicholas Slonimsky, Robert Sabin, and Bruce Bohle, eds. The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. 11th ed. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985. She was revered for her singing talents in her home city and became a published composer in 1659, at the age of 15, with the release of her book of motets, Motetti à voce sola.Sadie, Stanley and John Tyrrell, eds.The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed. Vol. 4 New York: Grove, 2001.
Life and career Cornelia was born at Bergamo. On 19 April 1661, she took her final vows as a nun at the Benedictine Convent of Santa Margherita in Milan, taking on the religious name of Maria Cattarina.Sadie, Julie Anne and Rhian Samuel, eds. The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1995. Her career began in a golden age of female musicians and composers in Italian convents and she became one of the most famous, drawing crowds from near and far.Drinker, Sophie Hutchinson. Music and Women: The Story of Women in Their Relation to Music. New York: Coward-McCann, 1975. These performances garnered her the title, La Divina Euterpe,Cohen, Aaron I. International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. 2nd ed. Vol. 1 New York: Books & Music, 1987. in reference to Euterpe the muse. Calegari wrote complex musical compositions,Elson, Arthur. Woman’s Work in Music. Portland, ME: Longwood Press, 1976. producing multiple masses for six voices with instrumental accompaniment, madrigals, canzonettas, vespers, and other sacred music.Bowers, Jane and Judith Tick, eds. Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150–1950. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985. Furthermore, she was known for conveying great emotion in her work at a time when most music was devoid of such expression.Elson
In 1663, Archbishop Alfonso Litta and the Catholic Church silenced this musical era with orders not to produce or perform music for at least three years after scandals and concerns regarding music and morality arose in the region.Bowers It is believed that these orders, in combination with a disagreement with the convent over Calegari's spiritual dowry, are major factors involved in the disappearance of all physical manifestations of her music leaving only written accounts of their existence.Sadie, Julie Anne
Some known works
Vocal Madrigali a due voci Madrigali e canzonette a voce sola
Sacred Messe a sei voci con instrumenti Motetti à voce sola Vespers
References
External links https://web.archive.org/web/20101114143811/http://www.intreccifemminili.com/Eng/Calegari_E.html http://www.dolmetsch.com/cdefsc.htm