L'Eraclito amoroso-- Barbara Strozzi

Were there successful women classical composers? Yes! While not well-documented in history, there were many gifted composers and musicians who were women in the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic Eras. Barbara Strozzi was a well-known singer and composer in Venice, Italy during her own lifetime. She was the daughter of Guilio Strozzi, who was a wealthy member of the "Accademia degli Incogniti," which was a group of Italian musicians, poets, and playwrights whose work lead to the invention of Opera. Barbara's association with this group and with Francesco Cavalli, the music director of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, helped to establish her as a legitimate composer and musician. L'Eraclito amoroso (Heraclitus in Love) is performed by Guadalupe Peraza, mezzo soprano, as part of the American Classical Orchestra's "Chaconne Project," which was recorded during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in New York City. Arnie Tanimoto plays the viola da gamba, and Charles Weaver plays the theorbo in this stunning performance. L' ERACLITO AMOROSO: Udite amanti la cagione, oh Dio, ch'a. lagrimar mi porta: nell'adorato e bello idolo mio, che sì fido credei, la fede è morta. Vaghezza ho sol di piangere, mi pasco sol di lagrime, il duolo è mia delizia e son miei gioie i gemiti. Ogni martie aggradami, ogni dolor dilettami, i singulti mi sanano, i sospir mi consolano. Ma se la fede negami quell'incostante e perfido, almen fede serbatemi sino alla morte, o lagrime! Ogni tristezza assalgami, ogni cordoglio eternisi, tanto ogni male affliggami che m'uccida e sotterrimi. HERACLITUS IN LOVE Listen you lovers, to the cause, oh God, of my weeping: in my handsome and adored idol, whom I believed to be faithful, faith is dead. I have pleasure only in weeping, I nourish myself only with tears. Grief is my delight and moans are my joys. Every anguish gives me pleasure, every pain delights me, sobs heal me, sighs console me. But if that inconstant traitor denys me constancy, at least let my devotion serve me until death, o tears. Every saddness soothes me, every sorrow sustains itself, every ill afflicts me so much that it slays and buries me. Translation by Richard Kolb for https://barbarastrozzi.com/piece/lera...