Selected Recordings

30-second samples of “Occhi io vissi di voi” and “Vatteme pur Lascivia”

Selected Sheet Music

Occhi io vissi di voi

Source: CPDL.org

Notes and Commentary

Claudia Sessa was an Italian composer born into the de Sessa family, a patrician clan of the Milanese aristocracy. A nun at the convent of Saint Maria Annunciata, she composed two sacred works published in 1613. She lived from c. 1570 to c. 1617 or 1619.—Excerpted from Wikipedia

Sessa was avidly praised by Gerolamo Borsieri for her musical talents and for her modest nature. Two of her works (for solo voice) are available today. Though it displays some technical weaknesses, Sessa’s work over the duration of her short lifetime has been described as sufficiently original and ambitious to place her on the roster of notable composers of her time.—Excerpted from Hildegard Publishing

Books and Music

Selected Books

Divas in the Convent
Univ. of Chicago Press, 2012
Craig Monson
$17.49 on Amazon

Nuns Behaving Badly
Univ. of Chicago Press, 2011
Craig Monson
$15.68 on Amazon

Selected Music

Rosa Mistica (2000), 1 CD

I Canti Di Euterpe (1998), 1 CD

Complete Works

Occhi io vissi di voi
Vatteme pur Lascivia

Other women Baroque composers

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