A Wisdom Archive on Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Monteverdi (May 15, 1567 (baptised) – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. His work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music. During his long life he produced work that can be classified in both categories, and he was one of the most significant revolutionaries that brought about the change in style. Monteverdi wrote the earliest dramatically viable opera, Orfeo, and was fortunate enough to enjoy fame during his lifetime. Claudio Monteverdi - Life and wor ... Including:

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He was born in Cremona in northern Italy. The name Monteverdi means 'green mountain' in Italian. In childhood he studied with Marc Antonio Ingegneri, who was maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Cremona. Since there is no record of him singing in the cathedral choir, the music lessons must have been private. Monteverdi produced his first music for publication—some motets and sacred madrigals—in only 1582 and 1583, so he must have been something of a child prodigy. In 1587 he produced his first book of secular madrigals, and shortly thereaft ...

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Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, 1610), or simply the Vespers of 1610, as it is commonly called, is a musical composition by Claudio Monteverdi. Vespers is a term taken from the Hours of the Divine Office and has remained structurally unchanged for the past 1500 years. The Vespers are built around several Biblical texts that are traditionally used as part of the liturgy for several Marian feasts in the Roman Catholic church; the introductory Deus in adjutorum (Psalm 69), five psalms taken ... Including:

• Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 Monteverdi - History and Context
• Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 Monteverdi - Structure of the Work
• Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 Monteverdi - Recordings

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1624 - Events. January 24 - Alfonso Mendez, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa. The Netherlands establish a trading colony at Kaohsiung on Taiwan. Thirty Walloon families settle in the New Netherland colony. Oslo is destroyed by fire. When rebuilt by Christian IV, it would be renamed Christiania. Claudio Monteverdi publishes Tancredi e Clorinda. Jean Louis Guez de Balzac publishes his Lettres. B ... Including:

• 1624 - Events
• 1624 - Births
• 1624 - Deaths

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• 1641 - Events
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Cremona has a distinguished musical history. The 12th century cathedral was probably the focus of organized musical activity in the region in the late Middle Ages. By the 16th century the town had become a famous musical centre. Nowadays there are important ensembles for Renaissance and Baroque music, i.e. Choir & Consort Costanzo Porta, and festivals which maintain Cremona as one of the most important town in Italy for music. Composer Marc Antonio Ingegneri taught there; Claudio Monteverdi was his most famous student, befo ...

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In the Divine Comedy Dante sees the shade of Orpheus along with those of numerous other "virtuous pagans" in Limbo. This story of Orpheus and Eurydice has been the subject of operas and cantatas through the history of western classical music: Jacopo Peri's "Euridice" (1600) Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo (1609) Louis-Nicolas Clerambault's "Orphee" (1710) Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) Johann Gottlieb Naumann's Orfeo ed Euridice (1785) Frie ...

Read more here: » Orpheus: Encyclopedia II - Orpheus - The post-classical Orpheus

De Wert wrote over 230 madrigals and other secular works (published in 16 volumes 1558–1608), as well as over 150 sacred pieces (motets, hymns etc.) which demonstrate his contrapuntal mastery. Stylistically, his madrigals were among the most advanced of the time: in the 1580s, he was one of the leaders in developing a new, expressive, emotionally intense style, along with Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Luca Marenzio, a style which culminated in the work of Monteverdi and Gesualdo. He tends to use a homophonic texture in his madrigals, altho ...

Read more here: » Giaches de Wert: Encyclopedia II - Giaches de Wert - Music and influence