Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Claudio Monteverdi" - New World

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Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi.

Claudio Monteverdi (May 15, 1567 (baptised) – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. His work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music. During his long life he produced work that can be classified in both categories, and he was one of the most significant revolutionaries that brought about the change in style. Monteverdi wrote the earliest dramatically viable opera, Orfeo, and was fortunate enough to enjoy fame during his lifetime.

Life2

Jacopo Peri

searched for a new solution that answered to the needs of the stage, looking for a speech-song that was intermediate between the continuous change of pitch in speech and the diastematic or intervallic motion in song.

The various styles of monody (in recitative, aria, and madrigal) made their way into all kinds of music, both secular and sacred, in the early seventeenth century. MOnody made musicla theater possible, becaues it was a medium by which both dialogue and exposition could be eonveyed in music, giving the necessary freedom and flexibility for truly dramatic expression.

Greek tragedy served as a model for the kind of dramatic music literary men of the Renasissance thought would be appropriate to the hteater.

Opera - a drama combining soliloquy, dialogue, secenery,a ction and continuous music.

Basso continuo - the composer wrote out the melody and the bass. THe bass was played on one or more instruments and above the bass notes the keyobard or lute player filled in the required chords, which were not otherwise written out.

Transformed stile rappresentative, or recitative, into rich, fluid, and varied melody Took primitive means devised by the Camerata and Jacopo Peri and used them with imagination , dramatic force and creative richness First composer to write operas with a full awareness of the artistic potential of this musico-dramatic genre – first musical dramatist Created the first operas that a present-day audience can listen to with appreciation

Began as a polyphonist, at age 15 published first volume of 3-part motets, followed by a book of 3-part canzonettas, and the first 3 of his 8 volumes of madrigals In opera he became a prophet and seer Compared to the archaic vocabulary and methods of a Peri, his operas represent a new art- not a revolution but invention, innovator of a new concept of dramatic music, with new methods, techniques, style and idioms Used rhythm, discords, instrumental colors, key changes, to project dramatic action or interpret characters or project moods and emotions in a way unknown before or during his time First one to appreciate the role of the orchestra in an opera, first to realize that wind instruments and percussion were good for projecting military moods; flutes for pastoral scenes, violas and lutes for sentimental episodes – this use of instruments for mood painting and characterization was without precedent Devised instrumental techniques to create the kind of agitation or passion or emotional intensity (stile concitato) his dramas needed: pizzicato and tremolo, e.g.

Boy chorister at the Cremona Cathedra, where he studied music with Marc’ Antonio Inegneri and published motets 1587-1592 – issued a volume of 3-part canconettas and first 3 volumes of madrigals in or about 1590 became a viol player and madrigal singer at the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua,a nd in 15…

in 1595 married Claudia Cattaneo, a singer at court, who died prematurely in 1607 leaving him with 2 infant sons

2nd opera, Arianna, - only a single fragment survived, the remarkable “Lament”, the most deeply moving operatic song written before GLuck while as Maestro di Cappella in Venice, he produced 3 more volumes of madrigals and several operas

outbreak of plague in 1631 probably impelled him to take holy orders in 1632 in 1639, first opera in almost a decade, Adone, and last opera, a masterwork L’Incorconazrzione di Poppea, in 1642

just before his death, revisited Cremona and after resuming musical duties in Venice, died Nov 29, 1643, buried in the chapel of St. Ambrosius in the church of Santa Maria dei Frari

1607 – the fable of Orpheus – first performance in 1607 – titled didn’t include the name of Eurydice, something that most of the subsequent composers did in treating the Orpheus legend here Eurydice is a subsidiary character – principal action and most emotion involves Orpheus

Grout Sacred music was affected almost as strongly as secular music by innovations of late 16th and early 17th centuries: monody, basso continuo, concertato medium were all applied to sacred texts

Roman Catholic church never abandoned polyphony of the Palestrina type – they opposed new styles Before mid-seventeenth c., Palestrina become supreme model for church style and all composers were trained to write counterpoint based on his practice = stile antico

Throughout 17th c., 2 distinct approaches (stile antico) and stile moderno were opposed Monteverdi wrote in both with equal mastery In the course of time the old style was modernized: basso continuo often added, rhythms more regular, older modes gave way to major-minor system

Gammond History of opera: during 2nd half of 16th c. many musicians and poets met in houses of 2 Florentine nobles: Giovanni de Bardi and Jacopo Corsi and were nicknamed the ‘camerata’ because of the room in which they met – interested in reviving the old Greek tragedies and performing them as nearly as possible to the original style They knew that choruses had been sung but not what type of music the Greeks had employed They were assisted by e.g. Jacopo Peri who wrote the music for Dafne in 1597, generally acknowledge as the first opera although it didn’t survived

No opera houses, performed in the homes of the nobility Fortunately Monteverdi appeared The very first operas – much recitative, and the airs were simple but gradually series of elaborate display pieces for the greatest singers of the day

Craze for opera spread to other western European countries

Claudio’s musical development was also influenced by operas of the Camerata in Florence Favola is of utmost significance in the history of opera His richness and variety of melody and harmonic invention ahs a special appeal to the modern listener Quote p. 81

Stanley Son of a chemist who practiced medicine (illegal act usually undertaken surreptitiously from small shops or stalls), mother Maddalena died when he was 9, and fathers’ second wife when he was 16 The following year the father married a third time and finally became recognized by the Milanese authorities for medical work Claudio got good musical education under Maestro di Cappella Gonzaga family under the musical guidance of Flemish composer GIaches de Wert, but Claudio’s status gradually grew and he became part of the Duke’s traveling court on his military expeditions in Europe, particularly to Danube and Flanders

Claudio was the first to use an array of instruments and employ music as an integral feature of the work, rather than mere decoration His favola retained the original tragic ending, unlike previous settings of the legend Also novel was his use of stringed instruments to represent Orpheus, who is traditionally associated with the lyre

When his wife died, this was compounded by poverty, overwork and illness After taking holy orders, he would have probably drifted from public attention had it not been for the opening in Venice of the first public opera house in 1637, which renewed his interest in opera, and toward the end of his life he composed il ritorno d’ulisse and di poppea, which further developed the techniques used in favola, and featured characters recognizably human, rather than symbolic

Buried in the vast gothic basilica, the frari, in a tomb at the very center of the church near the great Venetian artist titian, whose masterpiece, the assumption, towers there

Lived and worked in a period of change, as the late renaissance was giving way to the baroque Although he eschewed revolutionary means, he encouraged this transition and used his genius to develop and transform every aspect of music he came into contact with

In madrigals he introduced instrumental accompaniments and exploited to the full the dramatic possibilities of the medium

Motet: polyphonic composition, classically in 3 parts, each sung at a different speed and using different words, not always Latin At first religious, by the 13th c. it had adapted to secular functions too. In later medieval times it was the main form of musical composition, often accompanied by the organ.

Life and works

He was born in Cremona in northern Italy. The name Monteverdi means "green mountain" in Italian. In childhood he studied with Marc Antonio Ingegneri, who was maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Cremona. Since there is no record of him singing in the cathedral choir, the music lessons must have been private. Monteverdi produced his first music for publication—some motets and sacred madrigals—in only 1582 and 1583, so he must have been something of a child prodigy. In 1587 he produced his first book of secular madrigals, and shortly thereafter began to look for work outside of his native town.

In 1590 Monteverdi began working at the court of Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua as a vocalist and viol player, and by 1602 he had become conductor there. Until his fortieth birthday he mainly worked on madrigals, composing nine books of them in all. The Quinto Libro, published in 1605, was at the heart of the controversy between Monteverdi and Giovanni Artusi, where the latter attacked the "crudities" and "license" of the modern style of composing, centering his attacks on madrigals (including Cruda Amarilli, see Media, below) from the fourth book. Monteverdi made his reply in the introduction to the fifth book, with a proposal of the division of musical practice into two streams: what he called prima pratica, and seconda pratica: prima pratica being the previous polyphonic (multi-voiced music; several lines of sound) ideal of the sixteenth century, with flowing strict counterpoint, prepared dissonance, and equality of voices; and seconda pratica using much freer counterpoint with an increasing hierarchy of voices, emphasising soprano and bass. This represents an unconscious move towards the new style of monody. The introduction of a continuo instrumental part in many of the madrigals of the book is a further self-consciously modern feature. In addition, the fifth book showed the beginnings of conscious functional tonality. The Ottavo Libro, published in 1638, includes the so-called Madrigali dei guerrieri ed amorosi which many consider to be the perfection of the madrigal form. As a whole, the first eight books of madrigals show the enormous development from the Renaissance polyphonic music to the monodic style which is typical of Baroque music. The ninth book of madrigals, published posthumously in 1651, contains lighter pieces, such as canzonettas, probably composed throughout his lifetime and representing both styles.

From monody, with its emphasis on clear melodic lines, intelligible text and placid accompanying music, it was a logical step to begin composing opera, especially for a dramatically inclined composer who also loved grand effect. In 1607 he composed his first opera, Orfeo. It was common at that time for composers to create works on demand for special occasions, and this piece was meant to add some lustre to the annual carnival of Mantua. Indeed it was a great success, fitting very well in the spirit of the times. Orfeo is marked by its dramatic power and lively orchestration. Indeed, this piece is arguably the first example of a composer assigning specific instruments to parts, and it is also one of the first large compositions in which the exact instrumentation of the premiere has come down to us. The plot is described in vivid musical pictures and the melodies are linear and clear. With this opera Monteverdi had created an entirely new style of music, the dramma per musica (musical drama) as it was called. Monteverdi's operas are usually labelled "pre-baroque" or "early-baroque".

Orchestra in Orfeo numbered about forty instruments, never used all at one time. In many places he specified which instruments were to play. The score contains orchestral numbers including an introductory "toccata" ( a short fanfarelike movement twice repeated) and serveral ritornellos.

Next opera, Arianna (1608) - only a few fragmetns and one number, a Lament, preserved, whaich was universally adimired in the seventeenth century as a supreme example of expressive monody, one that when well sung never failed to move the auditors to tears. Monteverdi later arranged it as a five-part madrigal and afterwards reset the original version to a sacred text.

It is arguable that Monteverdi's greatest work remains the Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 (The Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610). This is one of his few sacred works of any scale, but it remains to this day one of the greatest examples of devotional music, matched only by works such as Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, Handel's Messiah, and J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion. The scope of the work as a whole is breathtaking - each part (there are twenty-five in total) is fully developed in both a musical and dramatic sense - the instrumental textures are used to precise dramatic and emotional effect, in a way that had not been seen before.

The Vespers of 1610 are also one of the best examples of early repetition and contrast, with many of the parts having a clear ritornello. This was something entirely new to the public of the time, and was an immediate hit.

In 1613 Monteverdi was appointed as conductor at San Marco in Venice, where he soon restored the musical standards of both the choir and instrumentalists, which had withered under the financial mismanagement of his predecessor, Giulio Cesare Martinengo. The managers of the basilica were relieved to have such a distinguished musician to take the post, where music had been in decline since the death of Giovanni Croce in 1609.

While in Venice, Monteverdi also finished his sixth, seventh and eighth books of madrigals. The eighth is the largest, containing works written over a thirty-year period, including the dramatic scene Tancredi e Clorinda (1624), in which the orchestra and voices form two separate entities; they act as counterparts. Most likely Monteverdi was inspired to try this arrangement because of the two opposite balconies in San Marco, which had inspired much similar music from composers there, such as Gabrieli. What made this composition also stand out is the first-time use of string tremolo (fast repetition of the same tone) and pizzicato (plucking strings with fingers) for special effect in dramatic scenes.

During the last years of his life Monteverdi became ill, but it did not keep him from composing his two last masterpieces, both operas: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses, 1641), and the historic opera L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea, 1642), based on the life of the Roman emperor Nero. L'incoronazione especially is considered a culminating point of Monteverdi's work. It contains tragic, romantic, as well as comic scenes (a new development in opera), more realistic portrayal of the characters, and warmer melodies than had previously been heard. It requires a smaller orchestra, and has a less prominent role for the choir.

Monteverdi was ordained a Catholic priest in 1632. He died in Venice.

Compositions

Monteverdi composed at least 18 operas, of which only L'Orfeo, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Il ritorno, and the famous aria "Lamento" from his second opera L'Arianna have survived:

L'Arianna (Lamento d'Arianna)
L'Orfeo
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
L'incoronazione di Poppea

Other works include secular and sacred compositions:

Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610)
Selva Morale e Spirituale (1640)
Scherzi Musicali
Madrigali Guirreri et Amorosi
Eight books of madrigals

See also:

Category:Compositions by Claudio Monteverdi
Category:Operas by Claudio Monteverdi

Media

Cor Mio Mentre Vi Miro (file info)

Cruda Amarilli (file info)

Non Si Levav'ancor (file info)

Problems listening to the files? See media help.

External links

Template:ChoralWiki
Free scores by Claudio Monteverdi in the Werner Icking Music Archive
Website devoted to Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610

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