Sulpitia Cesis: composer and lutenist

Life

A hinge figure between two eras, her training was completed during the final phase of Mannerism, while her artistic maturity—despite her brief career—expressed itself at the dawn of the Baroque, of which she is one of the first exponents.

Sulpitia Cesis, born in Modena in 1577, was a talented composer and lutenist. She was the daughter of Count Annibale Cesis. In 1593, she entered the Augustinian convent in Modena, where her father paid a dowry of 300 gold coins for her entry. Although some sources place her in the convent of Sant'Agostino, her life primarily unfolded in the convent of San Geminiano in Modena. Her only known work, a collection of Motetti spirituali (Spiritual Motets), was published in 1619.

Aneddoto

The composer behind the convent walls

Despite her monastic life, Sulpitia Cesis did not remain hidden from the musical world. In 1596, a religious procession at San Geminiano in Modena saw the performance of one of her motets right in front of the convent doors. The event, documented by Giovan Battista Spaccini in his Cronaca di Modena, proves that Cesis's talent was recognized and appreciated even outside the cloistered walls.

Works

The only surviving work by Sulpitia Cesis is a volume of Motetti spirituali in eight parts, printed in 1619. The collection includes 23 sacred motets for 2–12 voices with instrumental parts. Her style, which some date prior to 1619, is distinguished by its rich polyphony and the use of instruments such as horns, trombones, violins, and arch-viols. Among her motets is a liturgical piece titled Mary Magdalena et altera Maria, an excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew. Motets were a musical form of great importance, and Cesis's contribution to this genre makes her a significant figure among the female composers of her time.

Briciole di storia

The End of the Duchy of Ferrara

In the year 1597, Alfonso II d'Este, the last Duke of Ferrara, died without legitimate heirs. Although he had designated his cousin Cesare d'Este as his successor, Pope Clement VIII declared that, in the absence of direct descent, the fief of Ferrara—legally the property of the Church—must return to papal control. Faced with the threat of excommunication and the imminent invasion of the papal army, Cesare d'Este was forced to yield and renounce all his territories. In January 1598, the Pope made a triumphal entry into a somber and resigned Ferrara. Thus ended, after more than three centuries, the glorious Este rule. One of the most splendid capitals of the Renaissance was thereby reduced to a simple provincial city.