Various Composers - Laments and Lamentations in Italian Convents (Cappella Artemisia)

Information

1. Carlo Donato Cossoni - Morior misera
2. Alessandro Della Ciaia - Feria Quinta, Lamentatione Prima
3. Giovanni Matteo Asola - Lamentationes in Coena Domini
4. Chiara Margarita Cozzolani - Quid miseri, quid faciamus?
5. Agostino Guerrieri - Sonata malinconica
6. Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana - Usquequo oblivisceris me in finem?
7. Giovanni Battista Strata - Deh, che fai, anima mia
8. Maria Francesca Nascimbeni - O traftto mio Dio
9. Anonymous - La Monaca Musica
10. Alessandro Della Ciaia - Lamentatio Virginis in depositione Filij de Cruce

Cappella Artemisia

Candace Smith, artistic direction

Date: 2026

Label: Brilliant Classics

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This recording presents world-premiere performances of motets and laments from the early Italian Baroque by largely unknown composers, uncovered through the performing scholarship of Cappella Artemisia and its founder, Candace Smith. Praised by international critics for its expertise and adventurous programming, the ensemble draws on sources from Italian convent libraries to reveal a rich, often female-centered musical culture. Featuring works by composers such as Cossoni, Cozzolani, Vizzana, and Nascimbeni, the album explores sacred lament traditions associated with Passiontide and convent life, illuminating both the beauty of the music and the hidden histories behind its creation.

Cappella Artemisia is an Italian all-female vocal ensemble dedicated to the music of 17th-century Italian convents. Founded by the American singer and musicologist Candace Smith, who resides in Italy, the group combines performance with scholarly research. Smith is also co-publisher, with cornettist Bruce Dickey, of editions of this repertoire through Artemisia Editions. The ensemble’s core focus is music by nun-composers such as Raphaella Aleotti, Maria Xaveria Perucona, Isabella Leonarda, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, and others, while also performing works by male composers—both clerical and secular—who wrote for or dedicated music to convent communities.