Barbara Strozzi

Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was a Venetian composer and singer of the middle Baroque Period. During her lifetime, Strozzi published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular music in print than any other composer of the era. This was achieved without support from the Church or consistent patronage from the nobility. Personal life Early life and childhood Barbara Strozzi (at birth, Barbara Valle) was born in Venice in 1619 to a woman known as "La Greghetta" (in other sources she is also referred to as Isabella Griega or Isabella Garzoni). She was baptized in the church of Santa Sofia in the Cannaregio district of Venice. Although her birth certificate does not state her father's identity, it is assumed that her biological father was Giulio Strozzi, a poet and librettist, and a very influential figure in seventeenth-century Venice. He was a member of the Accademia degli Incogniti, one of the largest and most prestigious intellectual academies in Europe and a major political and social force in the Republic of Venice and beyond. He wrote in many literary media, for example, poetry, operas, prose, plays and lyrics for songs. Little is known about Barbara's mother, but historians suspect that Isabella was a servant of Giulio, as both Barbara and her mother lived in Giulio's household and were listed in his will. Although Barbara was an illegitimate child, her father Giulio referred to her as his "adoptive daughter" and was instrumental in helping her establish her career as a musician later in her life. Barbara grew up in a household frequented by the greatest literary and musical minds of the age. More detailed accounts of Barbara's life concern the end of her childhood and early adolescence. Throughout her childhood, Venice had suffered plagues that killed much of its population. Barbara and her mother survived. She reached the age of 12 by the first Festa della Salute in 1631.