“In Francesca Caccini at the Medici Court, Suzanne Cusick not only sheds light on the life and context of this exceptional woman, but unravels much of what we thought we knew about court patronage and aesthetic debates in general at this time. Few scholars reconstructing the history of women in music do so with Cusick’s sophistication or with her sensitivity to the relevance of women’s experiences to the cultural landscape itself. A brilliant contribution.”

Susan McClary, University of California, Los Angeles

“Suzanne Cusick makes an outstanding contribution to the study of music in early seventeenth-century Florence and of women’s musical and other lives. Her sensitive and subtle readings of Francesca Caccini’s music both reinforce her narrative and provide various counterpoints in ways that force us to rethink how we might view songs of this period. This riveting book will radically transform the ways in which all of us approach topics of this kind.” —Tim Carter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tim Carter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“This is an extraordinarily original, painstakingly researched, and fascinating book. It is obviously the fruit of Suzanne Cusick’s long and passionate interest in her topic and represents a truly monumental achievement. It will inspire readers and performers for a long time to come.”

Ellen Rosand, Yale University

"Cusick’s groundbreaking study represents an important addition to recent musicological scholarship on the lives of female composers. . . . This book will be of interest to readers interested in music history, cuiltural studies, and the role of women in early modern Italy. By examining the historical and cultural elements, the author brings new, exciting, invigorating, and much-needed in-depth analysis, and provides a more accurate portrayal of tthe composer and her works than has been seen before."

Reba Wissner | Southwest Journal of Cultures

“Richly documented, sometimes provocative, often ingeniously imaginative in its engagement with feminist theory, this is a book that will occupy a highly distinctive position on the shelves alongside more conventional treatments of music and spectacle in Medicean Florence.”

Journal of the American Musicological Society

"Thanks to a massive collation of documentary material, as well as contextual evidence, Cusick’s multidisciplinary approach portrays Francesca’s existence while vividly describing her own society and its social duties. In other words,this volume provides a priceless study on a songstress and her audience or, as Cusick puts it, on ‘the musical centre of a women’s court.’"

Gender & History

“This is a very important, satisfying book. Caccini—artist as well as human being—comes to life.”

American Historical Review

“The achievement of Francesca Caccini at the Medici Court is extraordinary in its breadth, its detail, its insight, and its worth to all participants in early music, be they listeners, performers, or musicologists. Its contribution is not limited to the musical world, however, as Cusick’s remarkable command and analysis of her material . . . has immense value for scholars engaged in cultural studies, performance studies, history, politics, or the study of difference.”

Renaissance Quarterly