by Anne E. Johnson
Published March 8, 2025
Elisabetta de Gambarini: Complete Works for Keyboard. Margherita Torretta, piano. Piano Classics PCL10286
In the 1913 publication Women Composers: A Biographical Handbook of Women’s Work in Music, there is a short entry for one Elisabetta de Gambarini (1731-1765), and since then Gambarini has made similarly brief appearances in various other encyclopedias. So it’s not quite true that this British keyboardist, composer, singer, and conductor was lost to history. Yet, until now, there have been no significant recordings of her works, only individual tracks on a handful of compilation albums. Pianist Margherita Torretta has made significant strides toward bringing this gifted musical artist back into the spotlight with Elisabetta de Gambarini: Complete Works for Keyboard.
Born and raised in London by Italian parents, Gambarini blossomed musically at a young age — that’s fortunate, since she only lived to 34 — and by her teens she was already composing music and performing as a singer, harpsichordist, and organist. She is the first British female composer to publish a collection of keyboard music. Her Op. 1, Six Sets of Lessons for the Harpsichord,and Op. 2, Lessons for the Harpsichord, Intermix’d with Italian and English Songs, were published in 1748, when she was only 17. Opus 3 contains additional English and Italian songs. Her unpublished works include an organ concerto that she is thought to have performed shortly before her death (possibly in childbirth — it’s unclear), an overture for horns, and a choral ode. She was also active as a conductor in London.
Torretta deserves much credit for her commitment to educating the world about Gambarini. She even put together a short, simple documentary video about the composer; any media exposure is helpful when it comes to raising awareness about an underrepresented voice from the past.
It’s likely that Gambarini studied composition with Francesco Geminiani, who had been living in London since 1714. In any case, Gambarini was certainly familiar with the important composers of her era: Handel and Domenico Scarlatti, among them. In her booklet essay, Torretta meticulously defends Gambarini against any claim that she was simply a copycat. For example, she points out that, while Gambarini uses basslines in the style of Domenico Alberti, her melody lines are more lyrical, which is true.
Alternatively, one might argue that, like most creatively talented youths, Gambarini was an incredibly absorbent sponge, able to master and combine — in her own way — elements of everything she heard and admired in the London music scene. That’s nothing to be ashamed of; the same might be said of early Beethoven! The six sonatas on this album are finely wrought galant works, sensitively balanced, and very much of their time.
This is Torretta’s third solo recording. Previously she recorded Domenico Scarlatti’s 20 keyboard sonatas (released in 2020) and the keyboard sonatas of Baldassare Gallupi (2023). As was true for those two projects, the Gambarini album is played on a modern piano. But don’t let that alarm you. Torretta effects a dryness in her sound and a fleetness in her ornaments that, if you use your imagination, can almost pass for fortepiano. The playing is stylish and graceful, providing a worthy platform for young Elisabetta’s digital-age debut.
Soon, hopefully, Torretta’s efforts will inspire an actual harpsichordist to take these lovely sonatas out for a spin.
Anne E. Johnson is EMA Book Editor and frequent contributor to Classical Voice North America. She teaches music theory, ear training, and composition geared toward Irish trad musicians at the Irish Arts Center in New York and on her website, IrishMusicTeacher.com. For EMA, she recently reviewed the Wild Fun of Scandinavian Folk-Early Music.
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