Maria Rosa Coccia (1759-1833)
Sacred Music from Eighteenth-Century Rome
Cardiff University Chamber Choir / Peter Leech (organ)
rec. 2022/24, Saint Augustine’s Church, Penarth, UK
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a download
Toccata Classics TOCC0359 [59]
One of the interesting developments in the music scene of the last twenty years or so is the increasing interest in the role of women in music life of the 17th and 18th centuries as composers rather than performers. Some of them have become well-known, such as Barbara Strozzi and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre who are well represented on disc and, more recently, Marianne Martines (1744-1812), the first woman to be admitted in 1773 as a member of the renowned Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. The second was Maria Rosa Coccia, to whom the present disc is devoted.
She was admitted in 1779; five years earlier, when she was just fifteen years of age, she had passed an important test. In 1716 Pope Clement XI had decreed that no musician was allowed to work professionally in Rome or use the title of maestro di cappella, without being a member of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. Potential candidates had to pass a musical examination involving the extempore composition of a four-part fugue on a given subject. Coccia passed the examination, and unusually her composition on the antiphon Hic vir despiciens mundum – included in the programme – was published in 1775. On the one hand, this contributed to Coccia’s reputation; on the other, it became the subject of some criticism. One such critic was Francesco Capalti, maestro di cappella of Narni Cathedral. A footnote in Peter Leech’s liner-notes mention that he himself had failed to pass the examination, which sheds some light on his motives. Interestingly, Coccia’s piece was defended by none other than ‘Padre’ Martini, at the time considered the greatest authority in the field of counterpoint.
It is also notable that the examination was about the contrapuntal skills of a candidate, in a time when melody was considered more important than counterpoint (as was in particular expressed by Johann Mattheson). However, several compositions on this disc show that in Rome it was still held in esteem.
Coccia was a child prodigy, from an early age receiving musical lessons from an (unknown) maestro di cappella. By the age of ten she was able to play the harpsichord at orchestral concerts in Rome, and was invited to play in the palace of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the elder brother of Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, an important patron of music. On the occasion, Charles accompanied her on the cello, and she dedicated her harpsichord sonatas Op. 1 to him (dating from 1771/72). Shortly afterwards she composed an oratorio, which has been lost.
The successful examination and the support of some powerful patrons did not open the way to an important post in the church. The rule that women should be silent in church was still observed, so it was a bridge too far to appoint a woman in a major post as maestra di cappella. As her life and oeuvre are not yet fully researched, to this date little is known about her career.
The programme is not entirely devoted to Coccia; her music is put into historical context by the inclusion of compositions by contemporaries, such as Sante Pesci, her teacher, and Giovanni Battista Casali, one of the examinators in 1774. The sacred music of the time has two faces: on the one hand, counterpoint still played a major role in Rome, as the ecclesiastical authorities had a strong preference for the stile antico, of which Palestrina was the greatest representative. In the late 17th century, some composers wrote music for the church explicitly in the ‘style of Palestrina’. From that perspective it is no surprise that the shorter works on this disc, especially those by Pesci, Casali and Bolis, are written in that style. Even Coccia did so. Apart from the examination piece mentioned above, examples are Veni sponsa Christi and sections from the larger works. Veni Creator spiritus and Dixit Dominus both close with a fugue. It was customary to end a sacred work with a fugal doxology. However, in her Magnificat Coccia completely ignores this tradition. In particular the solo episodes show the influence of opera, and the galant idiom which reigned supreme across Europe. This is the other face of sacred music at this time. The solos in the Magnificat could easily be part of an opera; they are quite virtuosic, include much coloratura, and usually close with a cadenza. In these parts one won’t find much text expression.
The disc closes with a setting of the Vesper psalm Dixit Dominus. For me that is also the highlight. Coccia shows here her commandment of counterpoint by writing for an eight-part double choir. The two choirs are used for a dialogue, which is used to effectively communicate the text. A graphic example of text expression is the verse ‘Dominus a dextris tuis’, especially the second half: “[he] shall wound even the kings in the day of his wrath”. The text of this psalm includes some quite dramatic verses, and Coccia does not overlook them.
It is notable that in Veni Creator spiritus the organ has a concertante role, which brings us to the keyboard pieces in the programme. They are written for harpsichord, but played here on the organ. There is no fundamental objection against this practice, but it would certainly be nice to hear this part of Coccia’s output on the harpsichord (or the fortepiano). The two movements played here attest to Coccia’s skills as a keyboard player, and stylistically they are in line with the fashion of the time.
The music on this disc may not appeal to everyone. I, for my part, am often sceptical about the quality of what was written in this period of the 18th century. A certain superficiality can hardly be denied. When I listened to the solos in the Magnificat, my reservations were confirmed. It is not bad, but certainly not my cup of tea. The choral pieces and episodes, and especially the Dixit Dominus, are easier to appreciate; the composers certainly knew what they were doing and which texts they were setting. It seems advisable to listen to several items on one of the platforms which cover this disc. Listen to the Magnificat and then to some of the shorter items.
That said, I have nothing but praise for a recording like this, which is part of a project of Peter Leech and others to explore sacred music in Rome in the second half of the 18th century, and especially the role of women in music at that time. With his choir he has a great instrument to bring this repertoire to life. Its singing is excellent, and it has some very good soloists in its ranks. I am full of admiration for the way they deal with the coloratura, and how well they have grasped the character of this music.
In a personal note, Leech writes: “Cardiff University Chamber Choir, like many other performing groups worldwide, ceased operations in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The choir did not meet again formally until October 2021, by which time most of the students who had taken part in the initial preparation for this project (originally planned for the summer of 2020) had moved on. An almost entirely new choir therefore prepared this repertoire anew, and in a very short space of time (…)”. That makes the level of the performances even more impressive.
If you want to expand your musical horizon, this is a disc that you should investigate; then look for some of the earlier discs which are available on Toccata. One was devoted to music around the above-mentioned Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart (review ~ review), another to Giovanni Battista Casali (TOCC0429). Also interesting is “Princely Splendour” on the Nimbus label (review).
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
https://bsky.app/profile/musicadeidonum.bsky.social
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Contents
Maria Rosa Coccia
Magnificat a 4 concertato
Sante Pesci (c1720-1786)
Ave Maria a 4
Maria Rosa Coccia
Hic vir despiciens mundum
Giovanni Battista Casali (1715-1792)
Ad te levavi
Maria Rosa Coccia
Sonata op. 1,1:
andante
Sebastiano Bolis (c1750-1804)
Assoluzione Quarta
Maria Rosa Coccia
Veni sponsa Christi
Giovanni Battista Casali
Ave Maria a 4
Maria Rosa Coccia
Sonata op. 1,2:
andante
Veni creator spiritus a 4 concertato
Dixit Dominus a 8 pieno
