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1 Works Cited "Choral Public Domain Library." December, (accessed December 1, 2010). Dickey, Timothy. "Lamento d'arianna, for voice and continuo." (accessed November 11, 2010). Goulding, Phil G. Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works. New York: Random House, Halsey, William D., ed. Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. 16. New York: MacMillan Educational Company, "L Arianna." Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 13 Nov < Leopold, Silke. Monteverdi: Music in Transition. Translated from the German by Anne Smith. Oxford & New York: Clarendon Press & Oxford University Press, Redlich, H. F. Claudio Monteverdi: Life and Work. London: Oxford University, Press, Swafford, Jan. National Public Radio, "Claudio Monteverdi with Jan Swafford." (accessed 9/30/10). "VB: Claudio Monteverdi." (accessed 9/30/10). Whenham, John, and Richard Wistreich, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Monteverdi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

2 Claudio Monteverdi and his opera, L'Arianna Carrie Seefeldt Music History and Literature Dr. Vera Volchansky 15 November 2010

3 A remarkable musician, a man of passion, and a pioneer of the arts, Claudio Monteverdi has left his mark on the musical world and is still revered today as a composer of revolutionary works. Monteverdi composed in numerous musical genres, including madrigals and church music, ranging from masses to psalms. While these works are universally recognized, his operas are his most revered accomplishment. Although it is not his most renowned work, Monteverdi s second opera, L Arianna, laid the foundation for many Baroque operas to follow (Halsey 92). Monteverdi also developed several significant musical elements, such as the basso continuo and Renaissance polyphony, and was a master of early orchestral instrumentation. As opera spread throughout Italy, Monteverdi s work was aided by various newly-developing genres and libretti. The Florentine Camerata had been influencing and guiding trends in the arts since 1577, and Jacopo Peri s Dafne, the first composition to be considered an opera, was written around This helped opera become increasingly popular as a genre and social event (Redlich 74). Monteverdi s L Arianna is considered one of the most memorable and influential operas of its time and exemplifies revolutionary musical approaches with its operatic monody and use of the expressive solo aria. Claudio Monteverdi s life was characterized by his revolutionary works, many of which mark the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. Born in Cremona, Italy in 1567, Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi experienced a musical upbringing. Although his father was a doctor, Claudio was surrounded by music from a young age. He was taught during his childhood by the maestro di cappella (conductor of important

4 worship services) at the Cathedral of Cremona, Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, and he sang in the cathedral choir. He also studied at the University of Cremona (Goulding 422). As his musicianship developed and grew under the instruction and influence of Ingegneri, he expanded his musical abilities to include both performance and composition. He began his music career with several compositions in 1582, including motets and sacred madrigals. Soon, Monteverdi s work at the Court of Mantua, first as a singer and a violist, then as music director, led him to the position of court conductor. Two basic principles of Baroque music are attributed to Claudio Monteverdi. First, he introduced the use of basso continuo, which became almost universal during the Baroque Era and provided the harmonic structure of music. In basso continuo, a group of instruments (often organ or harpsichord, but sometimes left to the discretion of the performers) played the continuo line using the figured bass notation as a guide; they are also expected to adapt to the solo instrument or voice (VB: Claudio Monteverdi). Monteverdi was also a pioneer of Renaissance polyphony. His compositions led to music written for multiple voices or instruments with simple, smooth qualities. This kind of writing was also made possible by the greatly increased vocal range in Renaissance music, which allowed composers to avoid the voice-crossing often associated with music from the Middle Ages (Redlich 126). Monteverdi s development of basso continuo and polyphony marked the transition from Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. Claudio Monteverdi s works are divided into three categories: madrigals, church music, and operas (Goulding 421). During his life, he composed and published a total of nine books of

5 madrigals, the first of which he composed by the age of seventeen. He is now credited with having perfected the madrigal as a musical form. Monteverdi s madrigals are prime examples of secular vocal compositions; they show the development of the traditional Renaissance polyphony to the monodic style of the Baroque period, which focused on a single melodic line with instrumental accompaniment. This transition is apparent in the fifth book of madrigals, Quinto Libro, compiled in In this volume, Monteverdi shifts from the prima prattica, the polyphonic ideal of the sixteenth century, to the seconda prattica, a freer counterpoint that included more voice parts and a heavier emphasis on harmony (Swafford). Claudio Monteverdi also wrote sacred music in contrapuntal texture. His first church music publication was the revered Mass In illo tempore, to which the Monteverdi s Vesper Psalms of 1610 were added. This sacred composition is still admired on a grand scale for its characteristic use of repetition and contrast; it also foreshadows great Baroque works on the level of George Frideric Handel s Messiah through its thick instrumental textures and emotional effect. National Public Radio commentator Jan Swafford claims, sacred music has never danced like Monteverdi s flamboyant Vespers of the Blessed Virgin from Monteverdi composed four other major sacred works in his lifetime (Swafford). As a composer, Claudio Monteverdi has had a more consequential impact on the operatic scene than on any other genre; in fact, he is generally acclaimed today as the first opera genius (Goulding, 422). He composed at least eighteen operas which popularized and spread the genre throughout Italy.

6 Monteverdi s first opera, L Orfeo, is the most universally recognized of his eighteen operas; it is one of just three of his operas that remain in their entirety today. He premiered this work in Mantua in 1607 with a considerably larger orchestra than had ever been used at the time. Although it was not the first opera (a group of Florentine intellectuals called the Florentine Camerata introduced opera as a raw imitation of ancient Greek drama around 1600), it was the first to fully mature and realize its full musical and dramatic potential. This achievement earned Monteverdi the alias Father of Opera Reform (Whenham 45). L Orfeo s maturity as an opera is due to the creation and implementation of dramma per la musica, in which musical and dramatic elements are equally important and the music is appropriate to the action; Monteverdi is remembered today for this act of blending music and drama and bringing it to the general public for the first time (Halsey 92). Moteverdi s second opera is L Arianna, which was first performed in Mantua in Although only one piece remains from this work, it is still considered one of the most prominent examples of early Baroque opera (Swafford). The libretto, by Ottavio Rinuccini, is based on the classical Greek legend of Ariadne (Arianna) and Theseus (Teseo) from the Roman poet Ovid s Heroides. The opera retells the classic mythological tale of Athens duty to Minos (who defeated them in war), to sacrifice seven men and seven women to the Minotaur, a mythical beast. Theseus, a citizen of Athens, volunteers to kill the Minotaur, and Ariadne, a young maiden, falls in love with him at first sight. Concerned about the journey he must now take, she gives him a sword and ball of red fleece thread to help him find his way out of the

7 labyrinth. She eventually elopes with Theseus, only to be abandoned by him and left alone on the Greek island of Naxos (Whenham 88). Monteverdi was commissioned to compose L Arianna for the wedding of Francesco Gonzaga, son of the Duke of Mantua; the duke hoped to showcase the magnificence of his court by hiring Italy s greatest musicians. Although Monteverdi was hired, he was competing against the work of his rival composer, Marco da Gagliano, who had already been commissioned by Gonzaga to compose an opera, Dafne, for the occasion (Dickey). Much to Monteverdi s relief, the wedding was postponed until the next year and Gagliano s opera was performed elsewhere. The finalized repertoire to be performed at the wedding included two works by Monteverdi, L Arianna and the ballet, Il ballo delle ingrate; Giovanni Battista Guarini's comedy, L'idropica, was also included in the festivities (VB: Claudio Monteverdi). Composing the music for L Arianna proved to be a daunting, discouraging task for Monteverdi. The heavy work load of writing music for the wedding took a toll on his health (Halsey 115). It is suspected that he did not finish the music until seven months before the wedding; according to letters dated post-1608, Monteverdi claims that lack of time was the great reason [he] almost killed [himself] when writing [the opera] (Whenham 96). Casting for the opera also proved to be difficult as the leading female soprano, Caterina Martinelli, came down with the smallpox and died two months before the wedding. Monteverdi was able to hire the wife of Giovan Battista Andreini (the leader of an acting company), nicknamed La Florinda, to play the role of Arianna (Dickey). All other roles were cast as shown in Appendix: 1.

8 The wedding and premier of L Arianna took place on May 28, According to Mantuan courtier Frederico Follino s Compendio delle suntuose faste, the performance took place in a specially built theatre in front of a large, aristocratic audience ; he applauded the work by calling it very beautiful in itself and commenting that Monteverdi had excelled himself Goulding 425). The opera was revived in 1640 in Venice due to the opening of public opera houses three year earlier, which provided a new outlet for his dramatic works. Monteverdi revised the score to eliminate all references to the wedding, and, to better suit the tastes of the modern audience. Although Rinuccini s libretto, printed in 1608, still exists today, all of Monteverdi s music from the opera has been lost with the exception of Il lamento d'arianna (Ariadne's Complaint). In the final act of the opera, Arianna wakes up to find herself abandoned on the island of Naxos by her hero and lover, Teseo. Realizing she has been forsaken, she expresses her grief in the solo aria, distinguished by its first words, Lasciatemi morire ( Let me die ) (Dickey). The term aria first appeared in music of the fourteenth century, therefore this type of work was common to the time period. During the Baroque era, an aria was a song sung by a soloist (as opposed to duets and trios, sung by two and three singers, respectively. It was, however, particularly revered in its own time as a prime example of operatic monody, a musical style which developed out of an attempt to restore ancient Greek ideas of melody. Monody refers not only to a stylized type of ancient Greek poetry sung by a single performer, but also to the musical meaning characterized by a single expressive vocal line with instrumental accompaniment (Redlich 86). Because of the wide array of emotions Monteverdi needed to express with this

9 music, he abandoned the traditional polyphonic texture of the Renaissance and put more emphasis on words and emotions, conceivably emulating the Baroque style. The aria s reflective character, which expressed a moment of importance in the action of the opera, also helped increase catharsis by allowing the audience relate to the characters and plot (Dickey). Swafford states that Monteverdi was the first composer to create opera out of characters who live, breathe, love and hate. In 1613, Monteverdi became the choir director at San Marco Basilica in Venice, an important center for music at the time. While in this position, he proved himself to the professional music world by repairing the damage done by his predecessor, Giulio Cesare Martinengo, who had allowed the musical standards to fall, due to financial mishandling. This position was the ultimate addition Monteverdi s identity as a distinguished musician (Leopold 62). In 1632, he became a priest and spent his last years ill, composing many of his most wellknown works. His last composition, an opera entitled L incoronazione di Poppea, was written in 1642, the year before his death in Venice. Based on the life of the Roman Emperor Nero, this opera marked a culminating point of Monteverdi s work as it combined tragic, romantic, and comedic qualities and exemplified new developments in opera, including a realistic portrayal of characters and warmer melodies (Halsey 91). Leaving his musical impact and legacy behind, Monteverdi passed away in Venice on November 29, Monteverdi considered Il lament d Arianna the most important aspect of his second opera. In one letter, he revealed that composing this aria greatly stretched his limits of musical

10 imitation (Swafford). Throughout the lament, he continuously emphasizes the solo voice using an array of techniques including text-painting and intervals. His abundant use of chromaticism also establishes a sense of melancholy or strife. The first interval sung by Arianna is a minor second, beginning the title phrase, Let me die. Other minor seconds can be found on the text, mine (as she wishes Theseus still belonged to her) and an entire line beginning in measure one-hundred-twenty-eight that ascends chromatically on the text, Crying in vain, wailing in vain for help. Monteverdi also uses dissonant tritones, the interval of an augmented fourth, to emphasize the text and dramatic magnitude of the solo voice at a given moment. The first augmented fourth appears beginning in measure thirty-nine, on the text Oh God! ; the painful, disconcerting sound of the augmented fourth highlights Arianna s cries to God to ask that he bring Theseus back to her. Another tritone in measure one-hundred-sixty-four on the text I am not she aids in Arianna s plea that her fear and pain have been speaking for her, and she is not herself (CPDL.org). Monteverdi also uses text painting to closely unite the text and music and portray one idea. Perhaps the best example of text-painting begins in measure one-hundred-forty-seven. As she sings about clouds, storms, and winds, all naturally associated with movement, the music begins to flow with the combination of quarter and eighth notes. When she sings, Beneath those waves! Hurry, orcas and whales, and with his impure body fill up the deepest abyss, the music moves even more quickly with the rapid succession of sixteenth notes to depict waves flooding over Theseus, punishing him for abandoning her (Britannica).

11 Overall, the ebb-and-flow effect of the melody, in addition to Monteverdi s cutting-edge use of dissonance, successfully embodies the singer s feelings of love, loss, and heartache. According to musicologist Dr. Timothy Dickey, Monteverdi's intent seems to have been to produce the most physically effective piece of dramatic music possible. His success is evident in the piece s later popularity. Some composers, such as Severo Bonini in 1613 and Francesco Costa in 1626, composed their own music to Rinuccini s text; others composed monodic laments for their own characters, including Dido and the Virgin Mary. Monteverdi s second opera made the lament such a popular art form that it became a distinguishing feature of Italian opera for fifty years after the popularity of Ariadne s Complaint began to spread. Over time, it became more complex than an aria by frequently including an entire dramatic scene (Whenham 69). Monteverdi is regarded as the first major opera writer, partly because he was the first composer to embody a dramatic truth in his work (Goulding 51). As stated by Goulding, Claudio Monteverdi was the finest composer of the seventeenth century and was to music what Shakespeare was to play writing (Goulding 52). Beyond this, he was a musical experimenter who introduced new harmonies, textures, and orchestral colors through instrumentation. Perhaps most importantly, he was the major transitional figure between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that is, between Renaissance and Baroque music and his musical impact is still felt today (Whenham 15). Il Lamento d Arianna remains now as Monteverdi s lone gem from his famous second operatic work, a reminder of the roots of many modern operatic practices. Il lamento d'arianna still exists today because Monteverdi

12 published it in 1623 as a stand-alone piece. He also re-arranged it twice: once as a five-voice madrigal as part of his Sixth Book of Madrigals in 1614, and once with a new sacred text in Latin, entitled Pianto della Madonna and published in his collection Selva morale e spirituale in 1640 (Leopold 81). His contributions caused a significant increase in the popularity of the art form; in his lifetime, there were sixteen public opera houses in Venice alone (Goulding 421). From his first motets and madrigals to his last operas, Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi s work has made a lasting impression in classical music.