Donemus Webwinkel — Aleotti, Vittoria

The Italian composer Vittoria Aleotti (c. 1575 - c. 1646) was the daughter of a prominent architect in Ferrara, Giovanni Battista Aleotti, who is said to have had five daughters. There may be an elder sister of Vittoria: Rafaella, but these two sisters may as well be one and the same person. Records are contradictive about this.
However, Vittoria became very interested in music while listening to an older sister being taught music. Within a year Vittoria mastered instruments - mainly the harpsichord and voice - so well that she was sent to train with Alessandro Milleville and Ercole Pasquini. At the age of 6 or 7, after working with Pasquini, Vittoria was sent to San Vito in Ferrara, a convent famous for fostering musical talents. By the age of 14 Vittoria entered the convent and later on she took vows to dedicate her life to service. It is suggested that after entering the convent Vittoria changed her name to Rafaella. Some facts are supporting this suggestion: Vittoria produced madrigals until 1593. After that year nothing was published anymore, while Rafaella started publishing motets in the same year. Supposing that Vittoria took vows at the age of 18 years, this leads us to a year of birth around 1575, and that Vittoria and Rafaella are the same person. But nothing is certain about this.