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Papers by Claire Fontijn
Unity and Variety: Essays in Musicology for R. Larry Todd, 2024
This chapter demonstrates the importance of the chorale in music by the Mendelssohn siblings. A p... more This chapter demonstrates the importance of the chorale in music by the Mendelssohn siblings. A piece by each composer demonstrates the ways in which they adapted chorales to enhance their compositions at key narrative points.
Hensel Trio for A-R Music Anthology Online , 2024
A brief analytical commentary to accompany the listener to Fanny Hensel's Piano Trio, Opus 11.
Program Booklet, 2019
A discussion of the highlights of Lobgesang, Hiob, and the Cholera Cantata.
Amadeus: Il mensile della grande musica, 2004
Quando prendiamo in considerazione in parallelo la produzione musicale di Barbara Strozzi, Antoni... more Quando prendiamo in considerazione in parallelo la produzione musicale di Barbara Strozzi, Antonia Bembo e Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, emergono due temi principali. Il primo è che, come nel caso della maggior parte delle compositrici donne di successo, ognuna di esse ricevette dalla propria famiglia uno straordinario sostegno per la propria educazione musicale. Second, un apetto meno conosciuto: ognuna costituì legami tenaci fra la cultura francese e quella italiana.
Unpublished, 2016
An examination of the substantial patronage that Corbetta enjoyed reveals that his adaptation to ... more An examination of the substantial patronage that Corbetta enjoyed reveals that his adaptation to various court societies as a foreigner was reinforced by his easy mobility and the nature of his instrument. In this paper, I strive to weave the biographical aspects of his life with the nature of his dedications and patronage, their link with diplomacy, and the notion that he may have been involved in espionage.
Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677): Music and Discourse in Seicento Venice, 2024
Cahiers de l'Institut de Recherches et d'Histoire Musicale des Etats de Savoie, 1995
Three of the five works composed by Antonia Bembo (c. 1640–c. 1720) for Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, ... more Three of the five works composed by Antonia Bembo (c. 1640–c. 1720) for Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, the Duchess of Burgundy, are the basis for this study. Bembo's first manuscript,_Produzioni armoniche_, is preserved at the National Library in Paris, and it is in this work that the cantata "Hor che lampeggia in cielo" and the serenade "Qual ti rischiara il ciglio" are found. Bembo's second manuscript contains a longer "Divertimento" in Italian for the birth of the duchess's first child, the Duke of Brittany. Textual and musical analysis reveal a Venetian musician who studied with Francesco Cavalli and moved to Paris a few decades prior to writing these compositions.
Music held a central place in the life of Saint Hildegard (1098-1179), from singing and playing t... more Music held a central place in the life of Saint Hildegard (1098-1179), from singing and playing the psaltery as a child, to the completion of her compositional oeuvre including psalmody, informal singing, and works for Mass and Office. Hildegard wrote her credo for music early on in her career, the Vision of Music, included as the final segment of her substantial treasure _Scivias_ in the 1140s, and, close to her death, another credo in reaction to the banning of music by the Prelates of Mainz. This study examines and analyzes the Vision of Music as a masterpiece, moving virtuosically from songs (antiphon and responsory) to sung morality play to Biblical exegesis in prose.
Uncovering Music of Early European Women, 2020
Motivated by one of the debates of the Accademia degli Unisoni regarding whether song or tears is... more Motivated by one of the debates of the Accademia degli Unisoni regarding whether song or tears is the more powerful vehicle to incite love, Barbara Strozzi effectively resolved the issue by unifying them in her three laments. First examining models of lament by Monteverdi, Cavalli, and Fontei, and next her compositions, this essay shows how she set poetry to music that exclusively represents male weeping characters: from the pastoral Fileno to the squire Henri de Cinq-Mars. Distinctive rhythmic gesture, dissonance, disintegrating words, descending chromaticism, and elaborate passacaglia constitute some of the devices employed in her intense and elegant laments.
Fiori Musicali: Liber Amicorum Alexander Silbiger, 2010
Just as artists painted vivid depictions of the Madonna and Child and Mary at the Cross, composer... more Just as artists painted vivid depictions of the Madonna and Child and Mary at the Cross, composers evoked the same scenes through music. Seventeenth-century Italy offered up a particularly striking group of works that portray the events of Christ's birth and crucifixion through the voice of Mary herself: lullabies around Christmastime sung by the young nursing mother, and laments for Holy Week and Easter sung by the weeping mother mourning the death of her son on the cross. This study examines eight representative works in which a soprano portraying the Virgin Mary interprets her maternal role through dramatic performance.
Book Reviews by Claire Fontijn
Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, 2013
Reviewed by Claire Fontijn* 1. Introduction 2. Van Eyck's World 3. Sources and Scholarship 4. Per... more Reviewed by Claire Fontijn* 1. Introduction 2. Van Eyck's World 3. Sources and Scholarship 4. Performance Practice and Critical Apparatus 5. Conclusions
Unity and Variety: Essays in Musicology for R. Larry Todd, 2024
This chapter demonstrates the importance of the chorale in music by the Mendelssohn siblings. A p... more This chapter demonstrates the importance of the chorale in music by the Mendelssohn siblings. A piece by each composer demonstrates the ways in which they adapted chorales to enhance their compositions at key narrative points.
Hensel Trio for A-R Music Anthology Online , 2024
A brief analytical commentary to accompany the listener to Fanny Hensel's Piano Trio, Opus 11.
Program Booklet, 2019
A discussion of the highlights of Lobgesang, Hiob, and the Cholera Cantata.
Amadeus: Il mensile della grande musica, 2004
Quando prendiamo in considerazione in parallelo la produzione musicale di Barbara Strozzi, Antoni... more Quando prendiamo in considerazione in parallelo la produzione musicale di Barbara Strozzi, Antonia Bembo e Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, emergono due temi principali. Il primo è che, come nel caso della maggior parte delle compositrici donne di successo, ognuna di esse ricevette dalla propria famiglia uno straordinario sostegno per la propria educazione musicale. Second, un apetto meno conosciuto: ognuna costituì legami tenaci fra la cultura francese e quella italiana.
Unpublished, 2016
An examination of the substantial patronage that Corbetta enjoyed reveals that his adaptation to ... more An examination of the substantial patronage that Corbetta enjoyed reveals that his adaptation to various court societies as a foreigner was reinforced by his easy mobility and the nature of his instrument. In this paper, I strive to weave the biographical aspects of his life with the nature of his dedications and patronage, their link with diplomacy, and the notion that he may have been involved in espionage.
Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677): Music and Discourse in Seicento Venice, 2024
Cahiers de l'Institut de Recherches et d'Histoire Musicale des Etats de Savoie, 1995
Three of the five works composed by Antonia Bembo (c. 1640–c. 1720) for Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, ... more Three of the five works composed by Antonia Bembo (c. 1640–c. 1720) for Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, the Duchess of Burgundy, are the basis for this study. Bembo's first manuscript,_Produzioni armoniche_, is preserved at the National Library in Paris, and it is in this work that the cantata "Hor che lampeggia in cielo" and the serenade "Qual ti rischiara il ciglio" are found. Bembo's second manuscript contains a longer "Divertimento" in Italian for the birth of the duchess's first child, the Duke of Brittany. Textual and musical analysis reveal a Venetian musician who studied with Francesco Cavalli and moved to Paris a few decades prior to writing these compositions.
Music held a central place in the life of Saint Hildegard (1098-1179), from singing and playing t... more Music held a central place in the life of Saint Hildegard (1098-1179), from singing and playing the psaltery as a child, to the completion of her compositional oeuvre including psalmody, informal singing, and works for Mass and Office. Hildegard wrote her credo for music early on in her career, the Vision of Music, included as the final segment of her substantial treasure _Scivias_ in the 1140s, and, close to her death, another credo in reaction to the banning of music by the Prelates of Mainz. This study examines and analyzes the Vision of Music as a masterpiece, moving virtuosically from songs (antiphon and responsory) to sung morality play to Biblical exegesis in prose.
Uncovering Music of Early European Women, 2020
Motivated by one of the debates of the Accademia degli Unisoni regarding whether song or tears is... more Motivated by one of the debates of the Accademia degli Unisoni regarding whether song or tears is the more powerful vehicle to incite love, Barbara Strozzi effectively resolved the issue by unifying them in her three laments. First examining models of lament by Monteverdi, Cavalli, and Fontei, and next her compositions, this essay shows how she set poetry to music that exclusively represents male weeping characters: from the pastoral Fileno to the squire Henri de Cinq-Mars. Distinctive rhythmic gesture, dissonance, disintegrating words, descending chromaticism, and elaborate passacaglia constitute some of the devices employed in her intense and elegant laments.
Fiori Musicali: Liber Amicorum Alexander Silbiger, 2010
Just as artists painted vivid depictions of the Madonna and Child and Mary at the Cross, composer... more Just as artists painted vivid depictions of the Madonna and Child and Mary at the Cross, composers evoked the same scenes through music. Seventeenth-century Italy offered up a particularly striking group of works that portray the events of Christ's birth and crucifixion through the voice of Mary herself: lullabies around Christmastime sung by the young nursing mother, and laments for Holy Week and Easter sung by the weeping mother mourning the death of her son on the cross. This study examines eight representative works in which a soprano portraying the Virgin Mary interprets her maternal role through dramatic performance.
Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, 2013
Reviewed by Claire Fontijn* 1. Introduction 2. Van Eyck's World 3. Sources and Scholarship 4. Per... more Reviewed by Claire Fontijn* 1. Introduction 2. Van Eyck's World 3. Sources and Scholarship 4. Performance Practice and Critical Apparatus 5. Conclusions
One of the most fascinating figures of seventeenth-century music, composer and singer Antonia Pad... more One of the most fascinating figures of seventeenth-century music, composer and singer Antonia Padoani Bembo (c.1640 - c.1720) was active in both Venice and Paris. Her work provides a unique cross-cultural window into the rich musical cultures of these cities, yet owing to her clandestine existence in France, for almost three centuries Bembo's life was shrouded in mystery. In this first-ever biography, Clare Fontijn unveils the enthralling and surprising story of a remarkable woman who moved in the musical, literary, and artistic circles of these European cultural centers. Rebuffed in the attempt to divorce her abusive husband, Bembo fled to Paris, leaving her children in Venice. Joining ranks with composers glorifying Louis XIV, her song charmed the Sun King and won over his court's sympathy to the cause of women. She obtained his sponsorship to live in a semi-cloistered community in Paris, where she wrote music for the spiritual and worldly needs of the royal family. Offeri...
Journal of the American Musicological Society, 2008
Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, 2008
The Musical Times, 2007
Although the musical productivity of Saxony, Thuringia, Venice and Paris over the period 1660?172... more Although the musical productivity of Saxony, Thuringia, Venice and Paris over the period 1660?1720 is so very familiar today, there still remain less explored corners worth illuminating. Two of these books do exactly that very thoroughly, while the first, if not able to cast so much new light, at least scatters it evenly and exhaustively. They also show
Journal of the American Musicological Society, 2023
Jahrbuch Musik und Gender, 2017