Apollos Stimmen

Women composers were by no means an exception in the 17th and 18th centuries. In both sacred and secular musical centers, they created works of remarkable quality and originality—even though their work went largely unnoticed for centuries.

A vibrant culture of composition emerged particularly in the women’s convents of Europe. Here, female musicians wrote sacred works for liturgical use, and at times also instrumental music. Among the most significant figures was Isabella Leonarda, an Ursuline nun in Novara, who not only wrote the texts for her own motets but was also the first woman in music history to publish a collection of sonatas.

Female composers also achieved remarkable success outside the convent walls. For example, Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre was patronized by Louis XIV and, with *Céphale et Procris* in 1694, became the first woman in France to compose an opera that was performed in Paris.

Together with soprano Anna-Lena Ebert, the Freiburg Baroque Consort explores the fascinating works of these and other female composers of the early Baroque period. A concert that brings extraordinary music back into the spotlight and gives female artists a stage that has been denied to them for far too long.