Barbara Strozzi was born in Venice in 1619, and baptized on August 6. She died in Padua, Italy in 1677 at the age of 56. Strozzi was born into a world of creativity, intellectual fervency and artistic freedom. Strozzi’s father, Giulio Strozzi, was an important Venetian poet who wrote librettos for many operas, including works by Monteverdi. Barbara grew up in a household frequented by the greatest literary and musical minds of the age. She was one of the most prolific composers of secular chamber music in the 17th century. Her compositons are mostly cantatas or arias for solo voice. The theme in Strozzi’s secular works is almost invariably the suffering caused by unrequited love, presented across the full range of emotions, from ironic mockery to weeping melancholy.
Possibly because she was a woman working in a man’s field, Strozzi came under much criticism, rumour, speculation and slander. However, as a busy composer, mother of 4 children and performer, she had little time to be concerned about the gossip surrounding her. She lived with and took care of her aging parents in their house until they died. Given the few bits of information we now have about her private life, we have a picture of an extraordinary woman of talent, beauty, intellect, and business savvy, who published 125 pieces of vocal music in her lifetime.
