Settimia Caccini – singer and songwriter

Esteemed soprano composed beautiful music

Settimia initially performed alongside her sister,
Francesca (above), who was also a composer

Singer and composer Settimia Caccini, who is believed to have been one of the first women in Italy to have a successful career in music, was born on this day in 1591 in Florence.

Settimia was highly regarded by those who heard her sing because of her beautiful soprano voice and she initially worked with other members of her family singing for the Medici court in Florence. But she became famous as a solo artist in 1608 when she sang the role of Venus in Claudio Monteverdi’s opera Arianna in Mantua.

Records show that for a time she received high pay from the Gonzaga family, who employed her at their court in Mantua and clearly valued her.

Born into a family of singers and composers, Settimia learnt music from an early age. Her father was Giulio Caccini, who was a key figure in the advance of the Baroque style of music and wrote musical dramas, which would now be recognised as operas.

Her older sister was Francesca Caccini, who was also a talented singer and was the composer of what is thought to be the oldest surviving opera by a woman composer, La Liberazione di Ruggiero.

Settimia’s mother, Lucia Gagnolanti, was a talented singer, but she died when Settimia was still young. Her older brother, Pompeo Caccini, was also a singer.

Giulio Caccini was employed by the Medici family who ruled Florence at the time. While working for them he was introduced by the Medici to the ‘concerto delle donne’, a group of’ professional female singers who worked for the Este court in Ferrara. It is thought that Giulio may have persuaded these women to train his daughters to sing in the same way.

Due luci ridenti is one of just eight
surviving compositions by Settimia

Instead of singing solos, Settimia and Francesca, were trained to sing soprano arias together and they were called Il Concerto Caccini. In 1600, they sang together in their father’s opera, Il rapimento di Cefalù, on the occasion of the wedding of Maria de’ Medici and Henry IV of France.

Settimia and Francesca grew up singing and performing together, but by 1608 when Settimia performed in Monteverdi’s opera in Mantua, they had gone their separate ways.

After her success in Mantua, Settimia was offered various offers of employment and marriage proposals, all of which she turned down. The following year, she married the singer and composer Alessandro Ghivizzani, who was from Lucca. After initially working for the Medici court in Florence together, the couple left the city to go to Lucca, which was Ghivizzani’s birthplace, and they then travelled throughout Italy before moving to Mantua to serve at the Gonzaga court.

It is known that in 1622 Settimia and her husband were in the service of Odoardo Farnese in Parma and that in 1626 she was chosen to sing in two of Monteverdi’s operas. The composer himself is said to have stated that Settimia Caccini sang the arias ‘with superhuman grace and angelic voice.’

After Ghivizzani’s death in 1632, Settimia returned to Florence to work at the Medici court again, where she remained until her death, which is assumed to have been in the 1630s, but the exact date is not certain.

Settimia was mostly known for her beautiful singing but she was also an active composer. None of her work was published while she was alive and most of it is now lost. However, it was documented that in 1611 she had composed the music for a masked carnival in Venice.

Just eight of Settimia Caccini’s compositions have survived, all written for a single singer, so they were perfect for her to sing herself and she many not have expected anyone else to perform them. These include Due luci ridenti, a madrigal. Some are now performed as piano solos and one was published in a 17th century collection of music.

Ponte Vecchio in Florence, which connects the
Palazzo Pitti with the rest of the city

Travel tip:

Musicians working for the Medici family in Florence would have performed for them and their guests at Palazzo Pitti, a palace originally built for the banker Luca Pitti in 1457 in the centre of Florence, in a bid to try to outshine the Medici family. The Medici later bought it from his bankrupt heirs and made it their main residence in 1550. Today visitors can look round the richly decorated rooms and see treasures from the Medici collections. The Ponte Vecchio connects Palazzo Pitti with the rest of the city, which is on the other side of the River Arno. It was built in 1345 and is the oldest bridge remaining in Florence. The medieval workshops used to be inhabited by butchers and blacksmiths, but these were eventually given to goldsmiths and are still inhabited by jewellers today. The private corridor over the shops was designed by the architect, Vasari, to link the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti, via the Uffizi, allowing the Medici to move about between their residences without having to walk through the streets.

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The Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, where Settimia
is likely to have sung for the Gonzaga family

Travel tip:

Mantua, where Settimia Caccini worked for the Gonzaga family, is an atmospheric old city, to the south east of Milan, a highlight of which is the Renaissance Palazzo Ducale, which has a famous room, Camera degli Sposi, decorated with frescoes by Andrea Mantegna. Settimia would probably have sung for the Gonzagas in what is known as the Galleria dei Fiumi, a space in the palace that has the dimensions to accommodate a stage and orchestra and where there is room for a small audience. It is not known for certain, but the premiere of the opera L’Orfeo, by the composer Claudio Monteverdi, may have taken place in the Galleria dei Fiumi. L’Orfeo, which is the earliest opera still being regularly staged, had its first performance in 1607 in Mantua. Settimia Caccini sang the role of Venus in Monteverdi’s opera Arianna in Mantua the following year.