When was claudio monteverdi born

He is often credited with bridging the gap between the music of the Renaissance and the music of the Baroque period. Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was born on a date unknown to historians, although it is known that he was baptized on May 15, in the Italian District of Lombardy.

Ingegneri gave Monteverdi his first lessons in music and composition; he also urged Monteverdi to take part in the cathedral choir. In , Monteverdi published his first work, a collection of motets titled Sacrae cantiunculae. He followed that up with a sacred madrigal titled the Madrigali Spirituali in , a collection of three voice canzonettes in , and a five part madrigal in In Monteverdi composed the ballet Tirsi i Clori for Ferdinand of Mantua, the more-favored brother of his deceased and disliked ex-employer.

The following years saw some abandoned operatic ventures, the now-lost opera La finta pazza Licori, and the dramatic dialogue Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. He also wrote a lot of church music, which included among other pieces, two Masses, two Magnificats, a litany, dozens of psalm settings. Concurrently, he also continued to write secular music.

Monteverdi, however, was increasingly concerned with the expression of human emotions and the creation of recognizable human beings, with their changes of mind and mood.

Thus, he wished to develop a greater variety of musical means, and in his seventh book of madrigals , he experimented with many new devices. Most were borrowed from the current practices of his younger contemporaries, but all were endowed with greater power.

The ballet Tirsi e Clori, written for Mantua in , shows, on the contrary, a complete acceptance of the simple tunefulness of the modern aria. It would be followed by two more books on Madrigals, to be published in and respectively. He also tried to write a few operas for the Court at Mantua, abandoning them in the midway. In this work, the rapid reiteration of single notes in strict rhythms and the use of pizzicato plucking strings to express the clashing of swords show important steps forward in the idiomatic use of stringed instruments.

He also provided chamber music for Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, when the latter was paying an incognito visit to Venice in July Monteverdi also received commissions from other Italian states and from their communities in Venice. These included, for the Milanese community in , music for the Feast of St. In Monteverdi received a major commission from Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, for a series of works, and gained leave from the Procurators to spend time there during and In , plague broke out in Venice, leaving Monteverdi without commission.

Sometimes now, he decided to take the Holy Order, being admitted to the tonsure in In November, as the epidemic was declared over, he wrote a grand mass for the thanksgiving service at San Marco. In , he has ordained a deacon.

In the same year, Monteverdi published his second set of Scherzi Musicali, the first set being published in , when he was maestro at Mantua. He was then 70 years old and his musical career was thought to be over by now. But it did not. Though this collection, put together when Monteverdi was more than 70 years old, might seem the end of his career, chance played a part in inspiring him to an Indian summer of astonishing productivity: the first public opera houses opened in Venice in As the one indigenous composer with any real experience in the genre, he naturally was involved with them almost from the beginning.

Although they still retain some elements of the Renaissance intermezzo and pastoral, they can be fairly described as the first modern operas. Throughout his life, Monteverdi is believed to have written 18 operas and at least four of them in the early s. However, among the four, only two survive to this day. However, with the opening of Venetian opera houses in , Monteverdi 's operatic career was revived. A new production of L'Arianna was staged in , and three new operas appeared within two years: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, Le nozze d'Enea con Lavinia also now lost , and L'incoronazione di Poppea.

This resurgence preceded his death by just a few years: he passed away in Venice in AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age. Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy.

Energetic Happy Hypnotic. Romantic Sad Sentimental. While in Venice, Monteverdi also finished his sixth , seventh , and eighth books of madrigals. The eighth is the largest, containing works written over a thirty-year period. Originally the work was to be dedicated to Ferdinand II, but because of his ill health, his son was made king in December The eighth book includes the so-called Madrigali dei guerrieri et amorosi Madrigals of War and Love.

The book is divided into sections of War and Love each containing madrigals, a piece in dramatic form genere rappresentativo , and a ballet.

In the Madrigals of War, Monteverdi has organized poetry that describes the pursuits of love through the allegory of war; the hunt for love, and the battle to find love. In the second half of the book, the Madrigals of Love, Monteverdi organized poetry that describes the unhappiness of being in love, unfaithfulness, and ungrateful lovers who feel no shame.

In his previous madrigal collections, Monteverdi usually set poetry from one or two poets he was in contact with through the court where he was employed. The Madrigals of War and Love represent an overview of the poets he has dealt with throughout his life; the classical poetry of Petrarch, poetry by his contemporaries Tasso,Guarini, Marino, Rinuccini, Testi and Strozzi , or anonymous poets who Monteverdi found and adapted to his needs.

Monteverdi was often ill during the last years of his life. From monody with melodic lines, intelligible text and placid accompanying music , it was a logical step for Monteverdi to begin composing opera. It was normal at that time for composers to create works on demand for special occasions, and this piece was part of the ducal celebrations of carnival. Monteverdi was later to write for the first opera houses supported by ticket sales which opened in Venice.

It is also one of the first large compositions for which the exact instrumentation of the premiere is still known. The plot is described in vivid musical pictures and the melodies are linear and clear. With this opera, Monteverdi created an entirely new style of music, the dramma per la musica or musical drama.