A beautiful setting of 'Cara Regina' from Isabella Leonarda's Motetti a Voce sola con Istrumenti, op. 20, 1700.
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Isabella Leonarda was born in Novara, a small province in Northern Italy betweenMilan and Turin. She was born to a prominent family: her father served as a legal adviser to the city, two of her brothers had positions at the cathedral; and two of her sisters became nuns with Leonarda at the Collegio di San Orsola. It is presumed that she received music tuition from the organist of Novara cathedral, Gasparo Casati, who included two of her compositions in his Terzo libro di sacri concenti in 1640. Her first known collection – the now lost book of motets for three voices published in Milan as opus 2 – didn’t appear until 1665 leaving a question as to her compositional activities during the fifteen-year gap. From the late 1660s until the end of her life, she produced around 200 compositions in most of the sacred music genres of the time.
The fourteen motets that make up her final publication - Motetti a Voce sola con Istrumenti, op. 20 - are scored for solo voice (4 for canto, 7 for alto, and 3 for bass) with accompaniment for 2 violins, ‘bassetto’ and organ.