Celestial Sirens Nuns and Their Music in Early Modern Milan [Hardcover]

The most famous musicians of early modern Milan were its cloistered nuns, despite the efforts of church officials to limit their musical lives. This book details the cultural context, religious traditions, musical styles, and personal meaning of the music written by and for them from the late sixteenth to the early eighteenth century, and outlines the ways in which their status as female virgins was--and was not--central to the musical expression of their piety.

Intriguing....This book contains a wealth of newly published archival information that will interest anyone concerned with ritual and performance circumstances of polyphonic music in women's religious orders during this important period in musical history. --Choice

Kendrick's ability to navigate the larger currents of sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Milanese culture in order to contextualize the practices of the city's female monasteries is only one of the many strengths of this impressive study....Celestial Sirensis an essential addition to the library of any historian with an interest in the sacred music of Seicento Italy. --Journal of the American Musicological Society

[Kendrick's] skills as social historian and musicologist are clearly evident and well exercised, making his work a sound contribution in both fields. --Church History

...Kendrick provides the English-speaking reader with an erudite exploration into the subject of nuns' music...[his] praiseworthy achievement will prompt further exploration of this complex history and bring to light more of the compositions of these musical women inside the cloister. --TheCatholic Historical Review