Desperate Measures

The first-ever biography of composer Antonia Padoani Bembo, a seventeenth-century singer and composer. Author Claire Fontijn unveils the enthralling and surprising story of this remarkable woman, who moved in the musical, literary, and artistic circles of Venice and Paris.

Claire Fontijn is Phyllis Henderson Carey Professor of Music at Wellesley College, where she teaches courses on Early Music; Opera; Music, Gender and Sexuality; Louis XIV's France; and the German Lied. Professor Fontijn's other books are Fiori Musicali: Liber amicorum Alexander Silbiger (2010) and The Vision of Music in Saint Hildegard's Scivias (2013).

List of Documents (Appendix 1)
List of Longer Musical Examples (Appendix 2)
Abbreviations
Introduction: Uncovering her Story
PART I. THE LIFE
Chapter 1: The Girl Who Sings
Chapter 2: Our Lady of Good News
PART II. THE MUSIC
Chapter 3: Harmonic Productions
Chapter 4: Ties That Bind
Chapter 5: The United Tastes
Chapter 6: Penitence
Chapter 7: Hercules in Love
Postscript: Sunset
Appendix 1. Documents
Appendix 2. Longer Musical Examples
List of Web Site Tracks
Bibliography
Index