Cantate, ariete a una, due, e tre voci, Opus 3

Cantate, ariete a una, due e tre voci, a collection of eleven secular cantatas, was first published by the Venetian printer Gardano in 1654. At her own expense Barbara Strozzi published seven volumes of secular music and one volume that contains more than 100 sacred pieces, while better known male contemporaries, such as Carissimi and Rossi, published only a small fraction of their output. A virtuoso lutenist and singer, Strozzi probably performed her pieces in her home at meetings of the Accademia degli Incogniti. Members of this group supplied librettos to all of the major opera composers in seventeenth-century Venice and also contributed texts to Strozzi's cantatas. This modern edition includes English translations of the texts and a brief discussion of performance practice. The limited number of figured bass symbols provided by the composer have been retained, thus underscoring the period's devotion to the performer's art: freely improvised lute or keyboard accompaniment and expressive vocal ornamentation. Of particular interest is the extended political lament, no. 3, “Il lamento.”