Abstract
The sacred section of Francesca Caccini’s 1618 Il primo libro delle
musiche a una e due voci ends with seven consecutive Latin solos. This
article compares three of them: Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius (a
psalm), Regina Coeli (a Marian antiphon), and Te lucis ante terminum
(a Compline hymn). All three are scored for solo voice and continuo but differ
in textual function and formal scale. It asks how diminution (the division of
longer note values into shorter, often ornamented figures, also referred to as passaggi),
meter, bass motion, cadence, repetition, and instrumental ritornellos organize
command, acclamation, declaration, intercession, and prayer. The comparison
suggests that, in these three works, these resources acquire their function
from their position in a textual and formal sequence. Local closure can prepare
another command, a metrical shift can mark a change of utterance, and a
ritornello can sustain formal continuity after vocal closure. The 1618 title
page, dedication, correspondence, and contemporary accounts connect these
arrangements to Caccini’s public identity as a composer. The article therefore
locates the works’ gender-historical significance in the public attribution of
compositional responsibility to a professional woman, rather than in musical
devices presumed to be feminine.
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