Presenter: Paige Stephenson, College of Fine Arts, Music
Authors: Paige Stephenson
Faculty Advisor: Jane Hatter, College of Fine Arts, Music
Institution: University of Utah
While musicology as a discipline is beginning to recognize the key role of female musicians in all eras, there is still a tendency to evaluate their significance using the same criteria used to understand the musical work of men. In Early Modern Europe, women of various social levels had significantly different modes of accessing and participating in musical activities from their male counterparts. This paper examines women as patrons of music through a comparative study of two rulers – Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua (1474-1539), and Vittoria Della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1622-1694). Living almost a century apart, these two women provide clear examples of music patronage in the late Italian Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Both women used music patronage to achieve very different personal objectives. Isabella chose musical performance in private settings as an avenue to attain fame, becoming a celebrity among her peers, known as both a patron and performer. She became so influential, that large amounts of music were written for and about her. Vittoria endeavored to use music to gain political standing, as she adopted the aspirations of her family line to increase their power. Using music patronage as her vehicle, Vittoria became a well-established leader known as a champion of the underrepresented and a resolver of political conflict. The lives of Vittoria and Isabella demonstrate the versatility of the patronage of music, as well as the variety of ways in which it can be utilized to achieve leadership goals. These women were able to form distinct societal images and achieve personal ideals of power and reputation through the use of music and its patronage in their personal courts. Such discovery demonstrates the powerful presence women hold in music history and allows for further research of other women as patrons of music.