Claudio Monteverdi - Biography
Claudio Monteverdi was born on May 15th 1567 in Cremona Italy and died on November 29th 1643 in Venice. Monteverdi is generally considered the father of the Opera and modern vocal music in general. He was a member of the upper middle class his father was a doctor and surgeon. Monteverdi studied music at the Cathedral of Cremona with the singing master Marc’ Antonio Ingegerni. Monteverdi first compositions were written in his teen years included a series of Motets, Canzonettas and madrigals. Monteverdi in his early twenties gravitated to the court of Mantua where he was a court musician as a Viola de Gamba player where he learned the art of counterpoint buy familiarizing him with Flemish music. In 1590 he published his Second book of Madrigals for five voices and in 1592 his Third which were far more daring in their use of dissonance. In 1595 as a member of the Mantua court he joined a military expedition against the Turks who had had invaded parts of Austria and Hungary. Upon his return in 1599 he married Claudia de Catteneis one of the singers at the Mantua court. In 1601 he became the Maestro de Cappella upon the death of his predecessor Pallavacino. During the early years of the seventeenth century he composed two more books of madrigals a Fourth and the Fifth for five voices. In 1607 Monteverdi composed his first Opera the revolutionary masterpiece Orfeo there were other operas composed prior to Orfeo but it is the first acknowledged operatic masterpiece. Besides its effectiveness as a drama it also uses the orchestra with unprecedented imagination and richness.
Monteverdi suffered a blow with the loss of his wife in 1607 leaving him as a widower with three children. He was deeply affected by the loss but accepted a commission for another opera L’Arianna which was missing with the exception of its celebrated Lament. Monteverdi composed his choral masterpiece The Vespers of 1610 for use in the great San Marco Cathedral in Venice ,this vast work is now recognized as one of the greatest of choral works. The year 1613 saw Monteverdi move to Venice where he to become maestro of the musical forces for the famed of the Cathedral of San Marco. In 1614 Monteverdi published his Sixth Book of Madrigals. During that period he wrote his well known wedding ballet Il Ballo Delle Ingrate. The Venetian position at San Marco which he was to keep for the rest of his life proved very rewarding he was eventually to receive a very good salary of 400 Ducats. In 1619 he composed a Seventh Book of Madrigals a few years earlier the ballet Tirsi e Clori. Monteverdi gave us the highly dramatic Il Combatttimento di Tancredi e Clorinda which is a cantata all but in name and is very affectively orchestrated. Monteverdi had a personal concern when his son a medical student was denounced before the Inquisition for reading books denounced in the Index of forbidden books, he was to be acquitted in 1630.That same year he was to compose an opera Proserpina Rapita which only partially survives The plague ravaged Venice in 1631 and upon it cessation Monteverdi wrote a Mass the Gloria section of which is all that survives. Monteverdi the following year becomes ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church during the same year he wrote his Scherzi Musicalli for solo and duet vocals. Soon to follow was his Eighth Book of Madrigals his largest in scope and duration which includes the famed Madrigali Guerrieri a collection that surveys thirty years of Monteverdi’s vocal works. A Ninth Book of Madrigals was to be published posthumously .Monteverdi was one of the handful of composers who kept his full powers at an advanced age. His final compositions for the church were the Selve morale e Spirituale for voices and orchestra and the Messe for four voices. He composed three operas in his seventies Le Nozze d’ Enia con Lavinia which is missing, Il ritorno d’Ulisse and his final opera L’incoronazione di Poppea .Monteverdi died on November 29th 1643 in Venice and is buried in the church of the Frari.
Monteverdi is one of the composers who have a pivotal role in the history of music as a great innovator who bridged the Renaissance and Baroque eras. He was also a pioneer in the use of the orchestra particularly the strings which he used with a wide degree of technical richness. As with many early music composers his music fell into neglect during the nineteenth century. An Italian composer and scholar Malipiero worked on the first modern edition of his works in the 1930’s. In the 1960’s due to the pioneering work of the German Archiv label and particularly the work of the conductor scholar Raymond Leppard Monteverdi’s work became much better known . In the age of the CD his music particularly the operas have had many superb and historically accurate recordings.
