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CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
(1567 - 1643) |
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Italian composer, the most important figure in the transition from
Renaissance to baroque music. Born in Cremona, he studied music with
the celebrated Veronese theoretician Marco Antonio Ingegneri. At the
age of 15, Monteverdi composed his first work, a set of three-part
motets, and by 1605 he had composed five books of madrigals. He became
interested in the experimental musical dramas of Jacopo Peri, who was
music director at the court of the Medici family, and in similar works
by other early composers.
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In 1607 Monteverdi's first musical drama, Orfeo, was produced. This
opera, which surpassed all previous attempts at musical drama, was
possibly the most important development in the history of opera and
established it as a serious form of musical and dramatic expression.
Through skillful use of vocal inflection, Monteverdi sought to express
emotion as it would be expressed in the highly charged speech of a
great actor. The orchestra, considerably enlarged and varied, was used
not merely as an accompaniment for the singers but also to establish
the moods of the various scenes. The score itself contains 14
independent orchestral pieces. The public received Orfeo
enthusiastically, and with his next opera, Arianna (1608), Monteverdi's
reputation as an opera composer was firmly established.
In 1613 he was appointed to one of the most important musical posts in
Italy, choirmaster and conductor at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice.
From this time on, Monteverdi wrote numerous operas (many now lost),
motets, madrigals, and masses. In his sixth, seventh, and eighth books
of madrigals (1614-38) he moved away from the Renaissance ideal of
equal-voiced polyphony toward the newer styles emphasizing melody, bass
line, and harmonic support as well as personal, or dramatic,
declamation. In 1637 the first public opera house was opened, and
Monteverdi, stimulated by the enthusiastic response to opera, wrote a
new series of operas, of which two remain, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in
patria (The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland, 1641) and
L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppaea, 1642). Written in
Monteverdi's old age, these operas contain scenes of great dramatic
intensity in which the vocal and orchestral music accurately reflect
the thoughts and emotions of the characters. They influenced many
subsequent composers of opera and are still performed today. Monteverdi
died in Venice on November 29, 1643.
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