Rome, 4 June 1759 -  Rome, ? Nov 1833

Italian composer.
As a child, Coccia exhibited precocious musical talent; among her early compositions are the oratorio Daniello nel lago dei leoni and a setting of Metastasio's L'isola disabitata, both composed in 1772.
Her teachers included Sante Pesci, maestro di cappella of the Basilica Liberiana, with whom she studied counterpoint.
In 1774 examiners from the Congregazione di Santa Cecilia gave her the title maestra di cappella; in 1779 Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica awarded her the same title. She also was admitted to Rome's Accademia de' Forti. In 1780, Francesco Capalti, maestro di cappella of Narni Cathedral, publicly attacked Coccia’s examination composition.
Michele Mallio defended her in his Elogio storico della signora Maria Rosa Coccia romana (Rome, 1780), which contained letters of support from Metastasio, Carlo Broschi (Farinelli) and Giovanni Battista Martini.
Little is known of her adult life, although her subsidy request in 1832 described a life devoted to ‘composing and teaching’.
Coccia's inventiveness lies within the confines of 18th-century form and style.
While most of her extant works are examples of her skill at choral composition, the cantata Il trionfo d'Enea demonstrates her able handling of recitative, aria and orchestral writing.

Bibliography:

R. Eitner: Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon
J. Fétis: Biographie universelle des musiciens suppl.
C. Schmidl: Dizionario universale dei musicisti
C. Lotti: ‘Una giovinetta romana maestra di musica ammirata dal Martini e dal Metastasio’, Gazzetta musicale di Milano LV (1900)
A. Cametti: ‘Altre notizie su Maria Rosa Coccia’, Gazzetta musicale di Milano, LV (1900)
J.L. Johnson: Roman Oratorio, 1770–1800: the Repertory at Santa Maria in Vallicella (Ann Arbor, 1987)
D. Gallo: ‘The Metastasio–Coccia Correspondence ’, The Rosaleen Moldenhauer Memorial: Music History From Primary Sources, eds.
R. Moldenhauer, J. Newsom and A. Mann (Washington DC, forthcoming)
Grove Music Online: www.oxfordmusiconline.com

Author:

Denise Gallo

Works:

Daniello nel lago dei leoni, orat in two parts, Rome, Chiesa Nuova, 1772, lost
L'isola disabitata (P. Metastasio), 1772, lost
Hic vir despiciens mundum, fugue, 4 voices, Rome, 1774 (examination piece for Congregazione di S Cecilia, and Accademia Filarmonica, Bologna)
Magnificat, Soprano voice, Contralto voice, organ, 1774
Dixit Dominus, 8 voices, organ, 1775 (may be same as Dixit Dominus, 8 voices, violin, viola, oboe, flute, horn)
Il trionfo d'Enea, cant in two parts, Soprano voice, Soprano voice, Contralto voice, Tenor voice, violin, viola, horn, trumpet, oboe, contrabbasso, basso continuo, ?1779
Arsinoe, cant, 4 voices, orchestra, 1783
Confitebor, Soprano voice, Soprano voice, organ
‘Qualche lagrime spargete’ from Semiramide, lost
Salve Regina, 2 voices, organ, n.d.
Veni Creator Spiritus, 4 voices, organ
4 psalms, lost