The Baroque Period, which ranged from 1600 to 1750, was an innovative era for music. During this period, musicians began to compose motets and madrigals, which differed from the type of music typically used during the previous period, The Renaissance. This era of music showed that there were many talented artists that influenced the way music is played today. In fact, "A new style of solo singing was developed, recitative, that aimed to join features of music and speech. This led inevitably to the stage… and to opera. Invented in Florence around 1600, opera became one of the greatest and most characteristic products of the Baroque imagination” (Kerman and Tomlinson, 83). Because opera was developed, many composers and artists attempted to perfect
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For the wedding, “He composed not only an opera but also a ballet and music for an intermezzo to a play” (Arnold). Unfortunately, the lead girl in his opera died of smallpox, which led to a postponement in the production. It was finally publicized in May of 1608 and was another successful opera by Monteverdi. After returning to his town of Cremona, he was ordered to come back to Mantua to work but refused. Eventually, he complied, but despised the Court of Gonzaga for how they treated him. He arranged “Lamento” which was a five-voiced madrigal on the death of the lead girl who was meant to be in his initial production. This music was thought to be advanced, but it combined the traditional sounds in it as well, and this could be seen in “Lamento”. The listener was always impressed when attending to his …show more content…
As a composer with a myriad of experience he was involved with producing at the opera house. Only two of the operas he composed around this time had survived which were The Return of Ulysses to His Country and The Coronation of Poppea, both are considered masterpieces. “Monteverdi shows how the philosophy of music evolved during his early years in Venice could be put to use, using all the means available to a composer of the time, the fashionable arietta (i.e., a short aria), duets, and ensembles, and how they could be combined with the expressive and less fashionable recitative of the early part of the century.”
For the wedding, “He composed not only an opera but also a ballet and music for an intermezzo to a play” (Arnold). Unfortunately, the lead girl in his opera died of smallpox, which led to a postponement in the production. It was finally publicized in May of 1608 and was another successful opera by Monteverdi. After returning to his town of Cremona, he was ordered to come back to Mantua to work but refused. Eventually, he complied, but despised the Court of Gonzaga for how they treated him. He arranged “Lamento” which was a five-voiced madrigal on the death of the lead girl who was meant to be in his initial production. This music was thought to be advanced, but it combined the traditional sounds in it as well, and this could be seen in “Lamento”. The listener was always impressed when attending to his …show more content…
As a composer with a myriad of experience he was involved with producing at the opera house. Only two of the operas he composed around this time had survived which were The Return of Ulysses to His Country and The Coronation of Poppea, both are considered masterpieces. “Monteverdi shows how the philosophy of music evolved during his early years in Venice could be put to use, using all the means available to a composer of the time, the fashionable arietta (i.e., a short aria), duets, and ensembles, and how they could be combined with the expressive and less fashionable recitative of the early part of the century.”