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Table of Contents
Claudio Monteverdi
Beginning
Monteverdi's father was a chemist who also worked as a physician, which may explain why he was such a modernist. The Italian maestro was born as an only child in Cremona in 1567. 1)
Marc'Antonio Ingegneri
Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro at his native cathedral, taught him from an early age. He had already written his first composition when he was 15 years old.2)
Criticism
Monteverdi was constantly chastised by his contemporaries. However, he suffered the most from widely publicized criticisms by conservative music scholar Giovanni Maria Artusi. In many of his compositions, particularly the harmonies in the Fourth Book of Madrigals, Artusi chastised Monteverdi's unique harmonic vocabulary.3)
Fifth Book of Madrigals
To response to Artusi's critique, Monteverdi wrote in the preface to his new publication, the Fifth Book of Madrigals, that what he had publicly denounced was simply a new method of thinking, or seconda practica.4)
Changing Opera
Monteverdi was at the vanguard of transforming opera from a performance only for princes and the privileged to an art form that could be appreciated by the general population. Complex Renaissance music, with its multiple vocal lines, was the norm of the day during his time. Composers and performers, on the other hand, were eager to leave it aside for something fresh in which a singer would be supported by supportive chords and instruments.5)
Orfeo
Before the first public performance, Monteverdi and his fellow musicians would meet in aristocratic residences to plan how they would compose musical tragedies. As a result, Monteverdi laid the route for the evolution of opera. Soon later, he gave birth to Orfeo.6)
Lost Works
Monteverdi knew early on in the opera game that for opera to be effective as a new musical genre, it needed a sweeping melodic structure to complement the theatrical movement. This explains why Orfeo was such a smash hit. However, Monteverdi wrote at least 7 other operas that are rumored to be lost.7)
Remained Works
The only fragments of his compositions that have survived that may be used to produce complete performances are Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (1640) and L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1642), which was written just before he died.8)