|
Monteverdi By Katie Heintz
Portrait by Bernardo Strozzi, circa 1640
|
||
|
Claudio Monteverdi was born in Italy in 1567. By the age of 40, he had become one of the most celebrated composers in Italy and was considered to be one of the most influential composers of Classical Music in the west. This was due to his development of the first true opera which was the precursor to the modern song and despite the fact that his style defied all musical convention of the day. Moteverdi worked hard all of his life to be considered such a great composer by the age of forty. He studied most of his life under Gianches de Wert. At the age of 17 he had composed a book of madrigals, by the age of 24 he was a musician in the court of Mantova, where he eventually became of the director, at the age of 40 he wrote three opera's, his first of which, was the first modern opera ever to be written. He was appointed the mastro di cappella in 1601. In 1607, when he was forty, Monteverdi developed the first true opera, L'Orfeo, which he based off of a group of Florentine's interpretation of Greek Drama. He finished his second opera, L'Arianna, a year later after the death of his wife. His third, and sometimes considered his best opera was called "The Coronation of Poppea". Monteverdi's style is best described as the evolution from Renaissance music to Baroque, and it is best compared to the modern song. The majority of his works use a subdued version of the polyphonic structure traditionally used in the Renaissance. This means that instead of using a wide range of voices, each of which were emphasized on equally, he focused more on the words and emotions. This is very similar to the modern song that is used today. He also used a main melody line followed by chordal accompaniment. By focusing on words, he gave is songs more emotion, and by using the melody line with accompaniment he created color and depth to his music. He died in Venice in the year 1643.
L'Orfeo is Claudio Monteverdi's first opera. This is the story of Orpheus descending to Hades to save his bride, Eurydice, from the world of the dead, only to loose her again. L'Orfeo is based on the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus. He loves Euridice, and when she dies, Orpheus was so upset that he approached Pluto, god of the Underworld to ask permission to enter the underworld and bring his wife back. Pluto granted him his wish with one condition, which was that Orpheus does not look at her as until they both return to the world of the living. During the return, Orpheus doubts that Euridice is following him so he looks back at her and as he does so, she is forced to return to the underworld forever. Listen to Samples of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo Prologo: Toccata - Ensemble Elyma Prologo: Dal mio Permesso Atto Primo: In questo lieto e Fortunato giorno Atto Primo: Rosa del Ciel
Boynick, Matt. Claudio Monteverdi, http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/monteverdi.html, February 1, 1996.
"Claudio Monteverdi." Jan Swafford. Milestones of the Millennium. National Public Radio. Washington DC. 1999. http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/990519.motm.monteverdi.html.
|
||
