Paulina in pleased to curate and design a program titled Canoro pianto et affetti for the 2023-2024 Chamber Series of the Washington Bach Consort.
Canoro pianto et affetti explores the musical world of 17th century women through songs for solo voice. As our canon of women’s music history continues to expand, so too does our awareness of the venues and spaces in which women worked and performed. Canoro pianto et affetti highlights the proliferation of women’s music making in sacred and secular spheres during the 17th century, and the increasing integration of women’s compositions within multi-composer printed collections.
This program was inspired by a 1613 printed collection titled Canoro pianto di Maria Vergine sopra la faccia di Christo estinto – “The singing cries of the Virgin Mary over the face of the deceased Christ.” The publication contains 24 compositions for solo voice and basso continuo, each labeled with a facial feature over which Mary weeps. The first half of the program will feature select monodies from the collection arranged into a song cycle, including two compositions attributed to Milanese nun Claudia Sessa. The second half of the program will feature secular monodies by women composers themed on the facial features highlighted in Canoro pianto.
Paulina Francisco, soprano
Paula Maust, harpsichord
Alexa Haynes-Pilon, viola da gamba
Deborah Fox, theorbo