Claudio Monteverdi (full name Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi , Italian. Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi ; May 9, 1567 , Cremona (baptized May 15, 1567) - November 29, 1643 , Venice ) - Italian composer , one of the largest in the era of the transition from the late Renaissance to Early Baroque (worked in the Renaissance and Baroque styles). The most famous works of Monteverdi are the late madrigals , the Lament of Ariadne, the opera Orpheus and the Vespers (Virgin Mary).
| Claudio Monteverdi Claudio monteverdi | |
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 Portrait of Monteverdi by Bernardo Strozzi in 1640 | |
| basic information | |
| Full name | Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi |
| Date of Birth | May 9, 1567 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | November 29, 1643 (aged 76) |
| Place of death | |
| Buried | |
| A country | |
| Professions | composer , gambist , singer |
| Instruments | |
| Genres | madrigal , opera |
Biography
Claudio Monteverdi was born in 1567 in Cremona , a city in Northern Italy, in the family of Balthazar Monteverdi - a doctor, pharmacist and surgeon [2] . He was the eldest of five children [3] . From childhood, he studied under M. A. Ingenieri [3] , the bandmaster of the cathedral in Cremona. Monteverdi comprehended the art of music, taking part in the performance of liturgical chants [4] . He also studied at the University of Cremona [4] . His first published collections included (Latin) motets and spiritual (Italian) madrigals ( Cantiunculae Sacrae , 1582; Madrigali Spirituali , 1583). They were followed by collections of three-voiced cannonets (1584), later two “books” (collections) of five-voiced madrigals (1587; 1590). From 1590 (or 1591) to 1612, Monteverdi worked at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga (1562-1612) in Mantua, first as a singer and gambist , and from 1602 as bandmaster, organizer of all musical life at the ducal court.
In 1599, Monteverdi married the court singer Claudia Cattaneo [5] , with whom he lived for 8 years (Claudia died in 1607) [5] . They had two boys and a girl who died shortly after birth [6] .
In 1613, Monteverdi moved to Venice , where he took over the post of bandmaster of the Cathedral of San Marco . In this position, he quickly restored the professional level of chorus musicians and instrumentalists (the chapel was in decline due to the irrational spending of funds by its predecessor, Giulio Cesare Martingo ). The managers of the basilica were happy to get such an exceptional musician as Monteverdi, because the musical part of the services has been in decline since the death of Giovanni Croce in 1609.
Around 1632, Monteverdi was ordained a priest. In the last years of his life, two last masterpieces came out from under his pen: The Return of Ulysses ( Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria , 1641) and the historical opera Coronation of Poppea ( L'incoronazione di Poppea , 1642), whose plot was based on events from life Roman Emperor Nero . The coronation of Poppea is considered the culmination of all Monteverdi's work. It combines tragic, romantic and comic scenes (a new step in the dramaturgy of the opera genre), more realistic portrait characteristics of characters and melodies , characterized by extraordinary warmth and sensuality. To perform the opera, a small orchestra was required, and a small role was also given to the choir. For a long time, the operas of Monteverdi were considered only as a historical and musical fact. Since the 1960s, the Coronation of Poppea has been renewed in the repertoire of the largest opera scenes in the world.
Monteverdi is buried in Venice at the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari .
Creativity and Style
Monteverdi's work is represented by three groups of works: madrigals, operas and sacred music. The main feature of the Monteverdi compositional technique is the combination (often in one piece) of imitation polyphony , characteristic of late Renaissance composers, and homophony , the achievement of a new Baroque era. Monteverdi’s innovation was sharply criticized by prominent music theorist Giovanni Artusi , in a polemic with which Monteverdi (and his brother Giulio Cesare) expressed their commitment to the so-called “second practice” of music . According to the declaration of the Monteverdi brothers, in the music of the second practice, the poetic text reigns supreme, to which all the elements of musical speech obey, primarily melody, harmony and rhythm. It is the text that justifies any irregularities of the latter.
Until the age of 40, Monteverdi worked primarily in the genre of madrigal (a total of 8 collections [of "books"]; the ninth, non-author, the collection was published posthumously). Work on the first book, consisting of five-voice madrigals (total 21), took about 4 years [4] . The first eight books of madrigals represent a huge leap from the polyphony of the Renaissance to the homophony characteristic of Baroque music.
Among the most popular works of Monteverdi - Lamento d'Arianna lament ( Italian: Lamento d'Arianna , incipit : "Lasciatemi morire") from the opera "Ariadne" (1608; music lost, the libretto is completely preserved). Throughout his life, Monteverdi published three versions of it - in the form of a five-voice madrigal in the 6th book of madrigals (1614), in the form of a one-voice aria with basso continuo (1623) and Latin counterfeiting of the latter (incipit: “Iam moriar mi fili”) - in the collection sacred music of Selva morale (1640), called the Lamentation of the Madonna ( Italian: Lamento della Madonna ). Among other popular compositions - madrigal (with chakona features) “Zefiro torna” for 2 tenors and bc (to the text by O. Rinuccini ) [7] .
Compositions
Secular music for the chamber ensemble
Madrigals
- Book 1 (1587), for 5 votes
- Book 2 (1590), for 5 votes
- Book 3 (1592), for 5 votes
- Book 4 (1603), for 5 votes
- Book 5 (1605), for 5 votes
- Book 6 (1614), for 5 votes
- Book 7 (1619): Concerto
- Book 8 (1638): Madrigali guerrieri, et amorosi con alcuni opuscoli in genere rappresentativo, che saranno per brevi episodi fra i canti senza gesto.
- Book 9 (1651): Madrigals and Canzonets for 2 and 3 votes (posthumous collection of madrigals and canzonets, partly duplicating earlier publications)
Other collections
- Scherzi musicali (1607), for 3 voices, 2 violins and bc (16 pieces of different genres)
- Scherzi musicali cioè arie (1632), for 1-2 voices and bc (7 pieces of different genres)
Opera
- Orpheus ( L'Orfeo , 1607 )
- The return of Ulysses to his homeland ( Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria , 1640 )
- Coronation of Poppea ( L'Incoronazione di Poppea , 1642 )
Church and Sacred Music
- Mass "In illo tempore" ("At the time of it"; 1610)
- Four-Part Mass a cappella (1641) (other name “Mass in F”; from the collection “Selva morale e spirituale”)
- Four-Part Mass a cappella (1650, posthumous publication)
- Vespro della Beata Vergine, often abbreviated as Vespers; 1610
- Cantiunculae sacrae (1582), a collection of motets for spiritual Latin texts
- Spiritual madrigals (Madrigali spirituali), for 4 votes (1583)
- Selva morale e spirituale (lit. “Moral and spiritual forest”, 1640), a collection of essays of various genres on “spiritual” texts - mass, motets (including three motets on the famous text Salve regina ), two magnificates , spiritual madrigals and “ moralizing " canzonetta .
Lost Works
- Opera Ariadne (1608; preserved libretto)
- Opera Andromeda (for Mantua)
- Opera "Imaginary Mad Licory"
- Opera “The Abduction of Proserpine”
- Opera “The Wedding of Aeneas and Lavinia”
Literature
- Bukofzer M. Music in the Baroque era. New York, 1947.
- Schrade L. Monteverdi, creator of modern music. London, 1950.
- Bronfin E. Claudio Monteverdi. - L., Music, 1970.
- Konen V.D. Monteverdi. Moscow, 1971.
- Arnold D. Monteverdi. London, 1975.
- The letters of Claudio Monteverdi, ed. by D. Stevens. London, 1980.
- Arnold D., Fortune N. The new Monteverdi companion. London, Boston, 1985.
- Stattkus MH Claudio Monteverdi. Verzeichnis der erhaltenen Werke: kleine Ausgabe. Bergkamen 1985 ( SV ) [8] .
- Carter T. Music in late Renaissance and early Baroque Italy. London, 1992.
- Skudina G. Claudio Monteverdi: Orpheus from Cremona. Moscow, 1998.
- Ignatyev N. “The Faithful Shepherd” Guarini and Madrigals of Monteverdi from the Fourth and Fifth Books // Scientific Herald of the Moscow Conservatory, 2012, No. 2, p. 18-33.
- Whenham J., Wistreich R. The Cambridge companion to Monteverdi. Cambridge, New York, 2007.
- Ignatyev N., Nasonov R. “Divine Cyprian” versus “New Pythagoras” and other “chimeras” of the second practice // Scientific Herald of the Moscow Conservatory, 2017, No. 3, p. 9-52.
- Montverdi, Giulio Cesare. Clarification of the letter printed in his Fifth book of madrigals. Translation and commentary by N. Ignatieva and R. Nasonov // Scientific Bulletin of the Moscow Conservatory, 2017, No. 3, p. 53-65.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 118583700 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ Halsey, William D., ed. Collier's Encyclopedia . Vol. 16 New York: MacMillan Educational Company, 1991.
- ↑ 1 2 Redlich, HF Claudio Monteverdi: Life and Work . London: Oxford University Press, 1952.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Schrade, Leo. Monteverdi: Creator of Modern Music . New York: WW Norton and Company, 1950.
- ↑ 1 2 Whenham, John, and Richard Wistreich, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Monteverdi . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- ↑ Ringer, Mark. Opera's First Master: The Musical Dramas of Claudio Monteverdi . Canada: Amadeus Press, 2006.
- ↑ Not to be confused with the 5-voice madrigal with the same incipit from the VI book (to the text of the sonnet of Petrarch).
- ↑ The publication of the large Monteverdi catalog, scheduled for 2013, did not take place in connection with the sudden death of Manfred Stattkus. For more details, see the Monteverdi Short List of Works (Kurzfassung) .
Links
- Monteverdi, Claudio: sheet music at International Music Score Library Project
- Claudio Monteverdi (sheet music and audio recordings on an amateur website)
- Claudio Monteverdi on the Yandex.Music portal