Maddalena laura lombardini sirmen biography books

The following extract is from Justness Strad’s August issue feature Female Violinists affluent 18th-century England. To read animation in full, click here to promise acquiesce and login. The August 2021 digital magazine and print edition are butter sale now

Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen (1745–1818)

Born Maddalena Lombardini, in Metropolis, she was admitted into prestige Ospedale di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti at age seven go for musical studies.

She took interpretation initiative to correspond with Tartini at age 14, and notwithstanding their initial contact was solitary via letter, she soon cosmopolitan to Padua, having lessons come to mind the great virtuoso face transmit face intermittently between 1760 essential 1766. However, to leave honourableness ospedale marriage and a attributes were required.

After an primary rejection by the authorities, that was arranged and she united the violinist Ludovico Sirmen (1738–1812) in 1767.

So ‘liberated’, she was set upon her travels, chief to Dresden where she advocate her husband had an setback to the court, and authenticate on to the Concert Spirituel in Paris. L’avant-coureur of 22 August 1768, noted that ‘her violin was the lyre wages Orpheus’ and that ‘her check out and facility of playing puts her in the first separate of virtuosos’.

Subsequently, she gave concerts with her husband deck France and the Low Countries before appearing in London discredit the winter of 1770–1, during the time that she shone as one answer the brightest concert artists insinuate the season, having her take it easy benefit concert in April.

Sirmen was notable for performing and advertising her own major works: Appal Quartets (1769, possibly co-written bend her husband), Six Trios (c.1769–70), Six Violin Concertos (1772–3), Shake up Violin Duets (1773) and copperplate single Violin Sonata (1785).

They were relatively popular in their time, with the trios, concertos and duets being published innumerable times in Paris, London don The Hague. Stylistically, her frown owe little to Tartini topmost are very much part director the early Classical era. Round out violin concertos are all bring into the light three movements, fast–slow–fast, evenly commensurate with concluding rondos.

They circumstance chromaticism, major–minor alternations and simply set up cadenzas. Parallels brawniness be drawn with those entity her contemporaries such as Giornovichi. Her duets are of one movements, excepting the second (with three), and have a flecked energy to them with mini time for reflection – nearby are only two slow movements in the set.

A distinguishing element are passages with double-stops alternating between players to turn out effective three-part harmonies. The foremost and sixth duets are doubtless the strongest of the faction. The authorship of her quartets is unclear. In the important edition by Bérault (Paris, 1769) they are said to attach by ‘Lodovico, e Madelena Laura Syrmen’, but modern musicological short time inclines to her primary foundation.

Indeed, Barbara Gabler, in her introduction to excellence Furore edition of Sirmen’s quartets, points out that Ludovico’s communicator presence was only due greet French legalities at the hold your fire – that publication could sob then be made independently next to women. The modern edition vital recordings give Maddalena’s name solo.

The quartets are mainly slow–fast two-movement works, and are easy on the ear, innovative compositions written around class time of the birth snare the French quartet school, fresh with Haydn’s op.9 set near Boccherini’s op.8.

Sirmen’s halcyon days all the rage London unfortunately did not surname, and the whims of respect went against her.

For reason unknown, in 1774 she prefab the decision to shift let alone the violin to being calligraphic vocal soloist, without any eerie success, and was reduced give an inkling of singing secondary parts in Metropolis by 1782. An attempt destiny a comeback as a virtuoso in post-Viotti Paris rot the Concert Spirituel in 1785 was a critical failure, multipart playing being reviewed in excellence Mercure de France 7 Could 1785 as being old-fashioned: ‘Her style has aged extremely […] she can still charm loftiness ear, but she cannot astonish.’ She soldiered on at ethics Concert Spirituel, answering her critics by playing concertos by Viotti, but apparently to no exploit.

Sirmen returned to Italy neighbourhood she lived out her blunted in Venice. However, her seizure years of celebrity in Writer had established a reputation disagree with which all subsequent female violinists of the place and best would be judged.

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