Music in the Renaissance
by Gustave Reese
Period: Renaissance
Born: Monday, May 15, 1567 in Cremona, Italy
Died: Sunday, November 29, 1643 in Venice, Italy
Nation of Origin: Italy
Major Works:
Madrigals:
Cruda Amarilli
Book VII: Ohimè dov'è il mio ben
(romanesca)
Book VIII (Madrigals of War and Love):
Hor che'l ciel e la terra
Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Operas:
Orfeo
Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi
Io non compro più speranza
In un fiorito prato
Arianna: Lament
Il ritorno d'Ulisse
L'Incoronazione di Poppea
Vespers
Mass: In illo tempore
Other Information:
Although a birthdate is not known, Monteverdi was baptized on May
15, 1567. He was among the first of the Ars Nova composers. The
development of Monteverdi's style can be easily seen in his
madrigals. The early ones (Books 1-4) are in the old Renaissance
contrapuntal style of four equal voices, but after 1603 (Book 5) he
began to write madrigals with an added basso continuo part and an
exalted soprano part. Books 6-9 mix the basso
continuo/homphonic/concertato style with the old contrapuntal
style. In Book 7 he used a Romanesca and other ground bass forms
like the chaconne and passacaglia. Book 8 contains his Madrigal
of War and Love which displays a range of human passions in the
stile concitato (agitated style of repeated 16th notes, tremelo,
rapid scale passages, pizzicato, dotted rhythms, no bel canto but
more like recitative in style).
His greatest contribution, however, is in the arena of the opera.
In his first opera, Orpheus, he specified which instruments
were to be used. That had never been done before in dramatic music
but was perhaps necessary because he wrote his score for 40
instruments. Had he not specified which instruments were to be used
he could not have had sufficient control over the sound of this
large ensemble. He also created the virtuosic aria, a reflective,
technically difficult vocal work designed to express a single
affection. This aria, "Possente spirito" from the opera
Orpheus, is one of many valuable works by Monteverdi. He
wrote the work out twice, once without any ornamentation and once
with suggested ornamentation. From this we have learned a lot about
early Baroque ornamentation practices.
General Bibliography:
Kennedy, Michael, The Oxford Dictionary of
Music, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 1997, ISBN:
0198691629
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Renaissance, W.W. Norton &
Company; November 1959, ISBN: 0393095304
Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World , W. W.
Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN: 0393097188
Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc.,
January 2001, ISBN: 1561592390
Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors,
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group,
December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257
Links to essays at other sites:
Music in the Renaissance by Gustave Reese |
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Biographical essay from the Grove Concise Dictionary of
Music
Biographical essay at the Karadar site
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directly.
Biographical essay at the Naxos site
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