Bembo, Antonia

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Bembo, Antonia

Bembo, Antonia, Italian-born French composer; b. presumably in Venice, c. 1670; d. place and date unknown. Between 1690 and 1695 she went to Paris. She sang for Louis XIV, and received a pension from him, which enabled her to devote herself to composition. Extant works (in the Paris Bibliothèque Nationale) are Produzioni armoniche, collection of 40 pieces (motets, duets, soli for soprano, etc., with figured bass or instrumental accompaniment, set to sacred Latin, French, and Italian texts), Te Deum for three Voices and String Orch., Divertimento for five-voiced Chorus with String Orch., Te Deum, with Large Orch., Exaudiat for three Voices, two “symphonie” parts, and Basso Continuo, an opera, L’Ercole Amante (1707), and Les Sept Psaumes de David for various vocal combinations with instrumental accompaniment.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire