FRANCESCA CACCINI

CHILDHOOD

• Born September 18, 1587 in Florence, Central Italy.
• Francesca’s nickname was “La Cecchina” (the Songbird).

HER TALENTS

• Francesca learned to played keyboard, Spanish guitar, lute, harp, theorbo, and viols.
• Was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher.

WORKS OF LIFE

• Most of Francesca’s music was opera or romanescas.
• Francesca’s only surviving stage work (La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina) is wisely concerned the oldest opera by a woman composer.

Francesca’s FAMILY

• Francesca’s father name was Gilulio Caccini (Italian composer).
• Lucia di Filippo Gagnolanti (Italian singer) was Francesca’s mother.
• Francesca had a sister named Settimia Caccini (Italian composer & singer).

FRANCESCA’S STEP-FAMILY

• Francesca had a step mother named Margherita della Scala (Italian singer).
• She also had a step brother named Pompeo (Italian singer, teacher & artist).

EARLY CAREER

• Performed at the Wedding of King Henry IV and Marie de’ Medici
• Served in the Medici court as an “all-around musician”

HER WORKS OF MUSIC

• Francesca published “Il primo libro delle musiche” dedicated to Cardinal Cosimo de’ Medici.
• Her compositional output included at least 17 theatrical works.
• Composed “La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina”, one of the earliest versions of music theater in history.

LATER STAGES OF LIFE

• In 1614, she was named the current most highly paid musician.
• By 1625, she earned 240 Scudi (coins or money).

HER CHILDREN

• Margherita (daughter of Francesca & Giovanni Batista Signorini, born 1622) entered the convent of San Girolamo and continued her mother’s musical legacy.
• Tommasino (son of Francesca & Tommaso Raffaelli, born 1628) became a ward of Tommaso’s brother (Girolamo Raffaelli) in 1645.

MARRIAGE & DEATH

• Giovanni Battista Signorini (tenor & string player),Francesca’s first husband, died suddenly in 1626.
• Tommaso Raffaelli (aristocrat), Francesca’s second husband, died in1630.
• Francesca died after1641in Florence, Italy.

FRANCESCA CACCINI “CIACCONA”

• https://youtu.be/3NmkQF5wkky

FRANCESCA CACCINI, “ROMANESCA”

• https://youtu.be/bIYvV4CIAow

“LA LIBERAZIONE DI RUGGIERO DALL’ISOLA D’ALCINA”

• https://youtu.be/6xKzVeOQo3Y

SOURCES

• McGee, Timothy J, “Pompeo Caccini and ‘Eurdice’: New Biographical Notes”, Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Reforme, vol. 14, no. 2,1990 pp. 81-99, JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43444759. Accessed 3Feb. 2023.
• “Francesca Caccini”, A Mondern Reveal, http://www.amondernreveal.com/Francesca-Caccini. Accessed 3Feb. 2023.

SOURCES

• Cypress, Rebecca, “Francesca Caccini: Italian composer and singer”, Britannia, http://www.Britannia.com/biography/Francesca-Caccini. Accessed 3Feb. 2023.
• Suchkov, Aleksei, 19Mar.2014, “Francesca Caccini Ciaccona”,YouTube, https://youtu.be/3NmkQF5wkky.

SOURCES

• Mozii, Francis, 27Feb.2015, “Francesca Caccini, ‘Romanesca’, Instrumental (Il primo libro delle Musiche)”, YouTube, https://youtu.be/blYvV4CIAow.
• Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Huelgas Ensemble, 15Mar.2018, “La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina: Scena I.Sinfonia-Cosi perfida Alaina. Scena II. Quisi puo dire”, YouTube, https://youtu.be/6xKzVeOQo3Y.

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