Women ' s group of the 16th century
- Duchy of Ferrara (present Italy), 1580. The Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso II, formed a musical group composed of four women.
The court of Ferrara was by then a prestigious musical center, as several music lovers had the habit of playing for other nobles in the context of the so-called musica riservata. The group was called Concerto Delle Donne (women’s concert), consisting of Livia d’Arco, Anna Guarini, Laura Pevera and Tarquinia Molza, and acted until 1597. The musical critics of the time extolled the work of the quartet and its fame was not limited to the court.
The payment to women for singing and playing music in public, that is, being female professional musicians, was not a common practice at that time and, to mitigate the scandal, the Duke had to take a series of measures: the members of the group were not only chosen for their qualities but the four were members of the low nobility. He first weighed the girls’ hands and made them marry four other nobles, who were accommodated in the new rank. And before he entered the courtroom, he commissioned them to do another mission: officially, he named them ladies of the Duchess company.
The prolific ornamentation and virtuosity were their hallmarks and inspiration for the creation of new pieces for composers of the time. According to some, the Concerto Delle Donne was the most important event of Italian profane music at the end of the sixteenth century. It was key in the evolution of compositions called Madrigales and, thus, was one of the elements that drove the creation of Baroque music.
But, more than in the musical style, the quartet influenced women more than musicians. The group’s success led to the creation of women’s groups in other Italian courts, such as the Orsini in Rome, the Gonzaga in Mantua and the Medici in Florence. Maria de Medici was then the queen of France, which allowed groups of women to enter the court in Paris, where she would stay for ten years. Thus, in Italy in the early 17th century, although the original Concerto Delle Donne had been dissolved, the possibility of female musicians having professional careers was opened.
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