Claudio Monteverdi: Superstar of Early Baroque

Claudio Monteverdi

Source: Wikipedia

The Baroque period is roundly given from 1600 to perhaps 1750. Baptized on 15 May 1567 in Cremona, Italy, Claudio Monteverdi wasn't the first to approach baroque composition and instrumentation, but he's generally considered the nova among its advance guard. Preceded in baroque by such as the monodies of Giulio Caccini and Jacopo Peri, Monteverdi was a gamba (viol) player who studied at the University of Cremona, his first employment as a musician at the Cathedral of Cremona in the choir. Composing seriously as an adolescent, 'Sacrae cantiunculae' was his first published volume of songs in 1582, an assemblage of sacred motets and madrigals. In 1590 he was hired by Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, with whom he moved up from singer and violist to court composer. In 1607 Monteverdi composed 'L'Orfeo', among the earliest operas nine years after what is considered the first, Peri's 'Dafne' having premiered in 1598. The year of 1613 found Monteverdi composing as choir master at the basilica in San Marco. By 1632 he had become a priest, sacred music to follow. Among his last works before his death was the opera, 'L'incoronazione di Poppea' ('The Coronation of Poppea') in 1642.

Monteverdi wrote some eighteen operas of which only 'L'Orfeo' (1607), 'Lamento' (an aria from 'Arianna' of 1608), 'Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria' ('The Return of Ulysses' / 1640) and 'L'incoronazione di Poppea' ('The Coronation of Poppea' / 1642)  have survived. Monteverdi's operas aside, his most important works were his earlier books of madrigals, the fifth in 1605 ('Il quinto libro de madrigali a cinque voci') considered his most significant in the development of baroque including a discussion of counterpoint and prima pratica versus seconda pratica in his introduction. Prima pratica refers to stile antico or the conservative approaches of the late Renaissance such as Palestrina or Zarlino. Seconda pratica or stile moderno refers to baroque as initiated in the monodies of Caccini in his 'Le nuove musiche' of 1602. Those were a remove from polyphony which was thought too focused on music requiring the interplay of multiple parts, and not enough on one voice alone. The only other part in monody was continuo, permitting greater concentration on the lyrical meaning of songs. Caccini's Hellenistic return to Greek monody was in situation to accompany a revival of humanistic concerns that had something waned since the classical Renaissance earlier that century. Monteverdi also noted Caccini's basso continuo notation. Notation for instruments was of relatively recent development, scores written only for voice for the last thousand years of sacred classical music, ignoring all but organ, and the last several centuries of secular music, instruments not having a role important enough for the work of transcribing or setting in print until basso continuo began to appear in scores as a structural method of keeping time. Often called figured bass, one might loosely think of basso continuo as like a part for upright bass in jazz. It could be specified for any number of instruments common to the period such as harpsichord or organ, and was often, if secular, left to performers to choose. Performances of sacred music strayed not far from compositions expected to be in conformance with Catholic or Protestant standards. In secular music, however, compositions were anticipated to see all variety of arrangements. Music for solo keyboard that had recently begun to receive notation was written for study, exercise or bones proffered for filling out by others as they would. The more basic addition of instrumental basso continuo to scores as a discipline is at the fountainhead, and trademark of, baroque.

"SV" numbers below are from 'Claudio Monteverdi: Verzeichnis der erhaltenen Werke' by Manfred H. Stattkus first published in 1985. Stattkus begins with Monteverdi's first book, 'Canzonette' for three voices, of 1584 as SV 1-21. (Inserted as SV 22 is 'Lamento d’Arianna' of 1623 containing 5 sections. Four of those are later settings corresponding to SV 107 published earlier in 1614 as No.1 of 'Il sesto libro de madrigali' for five voices which is SV 107-116 below.) 'Il primo libro de madrigali' for five voices of 1587 is SV 23-39. 'Il secondo libro de madrigali' for five voices of 1590 is SV 40-59.

'Ecco mormorar l’onde'   Madrigal a 5 by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 51

'Here the waves murmering'   Libretto: Torquato Tasso

No.14 of 'Il secondo libro de madrigali'   Pub Venice 1590

La Venexiana

Monteverdi's 'Il terzo libro de madrigali' for five voices was printed in Venice like all of Monteverdi's books in 1592 comprising SV 60-74. 'Il quarto libro de madrigali' for five voices arrived in 1603 comprising SV 75-93. 'Il quinto libro de madrigali' for five voices followed in 1605 comprising SV 94-106. His initial opera, 'L'Orfeo', premiered in Mantua in 1607 and was published in 1609 in Venice. This is the first baroque opera of note, insofar as I know, following the crude of Peri's 'Euridice' and Caccini's 'Il Rapimento di Cefalo' in 1600.

'Il quarto libro dei madrigali'   Madrigals a 5 by Claudio Monteverdi

Pub Venice 1603   SV 75-93

Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini

'Ch'io t'ami e t'ami più de la mia vita'   Madrigal a 5 by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 98

'I love you and love you more than my life'   Libretto: Giovanni Battista Guarini

No.9 of 'Il quinto libro de madrigali'   Pub Venice 1605

La Venexiana

'L'Orfeo'   First opera by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 318

Libretto: Alessandro Striggio

Premiere Mantua 1607   Pub Venice 1609

La Capella Reial de Catalunya Barcelona / Jordi Savall

'L'Orfeo'   First opera by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 318

Libretto: Alessandro Striggio

Premiere Mantua 1607   Pub Venice 1609

Ensemble des Opernhauses Zürich / Nikolaus Harnoncour

As parenthetically mentioned above, 'Il sesto libro de madrigali' for five voices which is SV 107-116 arrived in 1614. SV 107 is 'Lamento d'Arianna' consisting of four pieces titled 'Lasciatemi morire', 'O Teseo, Teseo mio', 'Dove, dove è la fede' and 'Ahi, ch'ei non pur risponde'. Settings for the same plus 'Misera ancor do loco' making five pieces were published in 1623 and catalogued as SV 22.

'Lamento d'Arianna'   Madrigal a 5 by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 107

Four sections w libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini

No.1 of 'Il sesto libro de madrigali'   Pub Venice 1614

Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew

'Il sesto libro dei madrigali'   Madrigals a 5 by Claudio Monteverdi

Pub Venice 1614   SV 107-116 (containing 'Lamento d'Arianna')

Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini

'Lamento d'Arianna'   Madrigal a 5 by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 22

Five sections w libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini   Pub Venice 1623

Anne Sofie von Otter w Jakob Lindberg

Monteverdi's 'Il settimo libro dei madrigali' had seen print in 1619. He was among composers featured in Carlo Milanuzzi's 'Quarto scherzo delle ariose vaghezze' (1622-25) of 1624. 'Scherzi musicali cioè arie et madrigali' arrived in 1632 comprising SV 246-251 followed by 'Madrigali gverrieri et amorosi' ('Madrigals of war and love') in 1638 which are SV 146-167. Monteverdi's sixteenth operatic work, 'Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria', arrived in time for Carnival of 1639-40. This wasn't published at the time but was copied into manuscript. Come the lost ballet, 'La vittoria d’Amore', in 1641. Monteverdi's 18th and final dramatic work was 'L'incoronazione di Poppea' which premiered during Carnival of 1643 at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. The original MS no longer exists, the two copies made of it apparently inconsistent.

'Sì dolce è'l tormento'   Aria for voice and continuo by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 332

'So sweet is the torment'   Libretto: Carlo Milanuzzi

No.4 of 'Quarto scherzo delle ariose vaghezze'   Pub by Milanuzzi 1624

Soprano: Cecilia Bartoli   Guitar: anon   Schwetzingen 2002

'Sì dolce è'l tormento'   Aria for voice and continuo by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 332

'So sweet is the torment'   Libretto: Carlo Milanuzzi

No.4 of 'Quarto scherzo delle ariose vaghezze'   Pub by Milanuzzi 1624

Soprano: Lea Desandre   Guitar: Thibault Cauvin   Paris 2018

'Quel sguardo sdegnosetto'   Madrigal a 2 (voice & keyboard) by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 247

'That disdainful look'   Libretto: Bartholomeo Magni

No.2 of 'Scherzi musicali cioè arie et madrigali'   Pub Venice 1632

Midori Suzuki w Anthonello led by Yoshimichi Hamada

'Lamento della Ninfa'   Madrigal a 1-4 by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 163

Libretto: Ottavio Rinuccini

No.18 of 'Madrigali gverrieri et amorosi'   Pub Venice 1638

Quadro Asolano   Album: 'Ardo'

'Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria'   Opera by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 325

Libretto: Giacomo Badoaro

Premiere: Carnival 1639–40 at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice

Rene Jacobs w Concerto Vocale

'L'incoronazione di Poppea'   Final opera by Claudio Monteverdi   SV 308

Premiere: Carnival 1643   Libretto: Giovanni Francesco Busenello

Poppea: Anna Caterina   Director: Graham Vick   Conductor: Ivor Bolton

Teatro Comunale di Bologna 1993

Monteverdi died in Venice on 29 November 1643. Books above hardly exhaust his corpus of publications, having authored numerous others throughout the years to a total of twenty-six volumes [Wikipedia]. One could say that Monteverdi put wings to the running start of operas by Peri and Caccini before him while he and Caccini represent the initial full plunge into the waters of baroque mainly via monody consisting of solo voice with continuo. As a remove from polyphony early baroque was a conservative clearing away of all that was extraneous to music, such as all that had arrived before recent appreciation of counterpoint and revival of matters Hellenistic. The exchange for continuo as of stile moderno was a steady measure less conservative than polyphonic stile antico of recent. Monody focused itself on its subjects more as Greeks would have done, rather than the old-fashioned distractions of polyphony which seemed more about making music than the contents of song.