Serenata con violini “Hor che Apollo è a Teti in seno” Arie Op.8

The Serenata Hor che Apollo is taken from Strozzi’s
last published work, her Op.8 Arie,
which appeared in 1664. It bears a dedication to Sophia, the duchess of
Braunschweig and Lüneburg. Strozzi must have met the duchess during Sophia’s
Grand Tour of Italy in 1664, and may even have sung for her. The dedication
lavishes praise on the Duchess, asking if she is pleased by my humble offering. Hor che Apollo is the longest work in the collection, and one of
the few Strozzi ever wrote with instruments. The Serenata is a lament during
which the character undergoes a dramatic change of heart, from longing and
desire to disillusionment and acceptance. Throughout the work, the strings act
as a reinforcement of the dramatic content, either anticipating what is to
come, or by repeating preceding passages, and Strozzi manages to enrapture the
listener in the saga by portraying images of war, love and death through her
musical language. The final heart-wrenching chaconne brings together for the
fist time the instruments and voice in a calm and resigned farewell.