Isabella Leonarda
Isabella Leonarda (6 September 1620 – 25 February 1704) was an Italian composer from Novara. At age 16 she joined the Ursuline convent Collegio di Sant’Orsola and stayed there for the rest of her life. She became a respected music teacher in the convent and later held leadership roles, including the position of magistra musicae.
Leonarda was incredibly productive. Over about 60 years she wrote nearly 200 works, mainly sacred music for voices and instruments, but also instrumental pieces. She published her music mostly after 1670, and her late output made her one of the most prolific convent composers of the Baroque era. She is especially known for writing instrumental sonatas and for publishing the first known instrumental sonata by a woman (Op. 16). Her earlier published works were the dialogues printed around 1640, which appear in Gasparo Casati’s publications.
Her music shows formal counterpoint and rich polyphony, with pieces for solo voices, choirs, and small instrumental ensembles. Leonarda’s sonatas are notable for their unusual structures and for not always following the common four-movement form; some include multiple movements and concerted passages where different instruments have solo parts. Sonata 12 is a famous solo work.
The nickname “la Musa novarese” (the Muse of Novara) was given to her by a contemporary, reflecting her local fame. Many of her dedications to the Virgin Mary and to patrons such as the archbishop of Milan, the bishop of Novara, and Emperor Leopold I were likely tied to support for the convent. She was identified as a music teacher in a 1658 convent document. While she may have studied with Gasparo Casati, direct evidence is limited, though Casati’s works contain the earliest signs of her music.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:24 (CET).