Camilla de Rossi

Camilla de Rossi ("fl." 1707 – 1710) was an Italian composer. Several women are known to have composed music in northern Italy and Austria during the period 1670-1725. Of those women, though there is no remaining biographical information, Camilla de Rossi by far has the most surviving works. The only known biographical detail about Camilla is her Roman citizenship. She always signed the title pages of her manuscripts as "Romana," or a woman of Roman descent. Rossi composed four oratorios for solo voices and orchestra, all of which were commissioned by Emperor Joseph I of Austria and were performed in the Imperial Chapel.

All of Rossi’s surviving works demonstrate an intimate knowledge of stringed instruments and, as Barbara Garvey Jackson describes, "a keen interest in tone color". Her pieces call for a combination of ensembles with chalumeau, archlute, and strings. While her four movement sinfonia, "Il Sacrifizio di Abramo," reveals her knowledge of instruments, strings in particular, but also demands a chalumeau, an instrument first heard in 1707, one year before her sinfonia was performed for the first time in 1708. Where she learned these skills as a musician and as a composer are entirely unknown as of today. Especially given the fact that she was a woman from Rome, she would not have hade access to the musical gatherings fostered by the pope and his cardinals. Although we may not know very much about Camilla de Rossi and her music, after listening to her compositions one thing is for sure: Camilla de Rossi was one talented composer.

Works

*Oratorios, for solo vv, orch (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, 1987–95):
*Santa Beatrice d’Este (B. Pamphili), 1707, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1986); Il sacrifizio di Abramo (F. Dario), 1708, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1984);
*Il figliuol prodigo (C. de Rossi),1709;
*Sant’Alessio, 1710 Frà Dori, e Fileno (cant.), S, A, str orch, D-Dl, ed. B.G. Jackson (Fayetteville, 1983)

Discography

*Rossi, Camilla de: Il Sacrifizio di Abramo, Perf. Terrie Baune, Judith Nelson and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic. Providence, RI. Newport Classic, 1990

Bibliography

*Jackson, Barbara Garvey: "Camilla de Rossi," Grove Music Online (1/28/07), http://www.grovemusic.com
*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. Vol. 1 /Catterina Benedetta Grazianini; Camilla de Rossi; Maria Grimani, Fayetteville, Arkansas, ClarNan Editions, 1987.