multitude of voyces

Raffaela Aleotti was an Italian organist, prioress and composer. She was born in Argenta, Ferrara, and lived for much of her life in the Augustinian Convent of San Vito, which was famed for its music. She began to play the organ in 1593 and went on to become Director of Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles and ultimately Prioress. Contemporary accounts of musical performances in the convent under her supervision are full of praise and adulation. Under her direction the nuns of San Vito performed for Pope Clement VIII and Margaret of Austria. Her madrigals and motets were widely celebrated, although most are now lost.