Claudio Monteverdi is an Italian composer from the Baroque period who was influential in the transition between Renaissance and Baroque music. Despite composing in all musical styles and genres of his time, Monteverdi defied past generation 's standards of composition. For example, he did not follow the rules governing the resolution of dissonances in that period. Like other composers of the Baroque period, Monteverdi had a big impetus to imitate reality through his music; he tried to humanize music by suggesting emotions through determined musical techniques. The composer enriched his compositions by creating new musical styles that can be comparable to the most basic emotions of human beings. He described the new musical styles according
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Measures 153 -158.
In this example, the harmonic rhythm of the orchestral accompaniment accelerates, gaining a faster tempo carrying the singer through a passage of fast notes which raises the emotional intensity of the piece. Vocally, the stile concitato is reflected in a very articulated texture in which the words become more important than music.
In contrast, Lamento della Ninfa is a vocal piece in the form of a lamento or lament which is a musical form that usually expresses grief with a slower tempo and “...often built over a descending tetrachord ostinato.” The piece exhibits a softer style called molle that is presented with homophonic style. Basically, the piece is composed for four voices in antiphonal style; that is, the three lower voices function as accompaniment to the canto, the upper voice.
Example 2: Claudio Monteverdi, Lamento della Ninfa. Measures 5 - 8.
Also, the use of contrasting textures and dynamics show the characters’ dramatic emotions while they are in the battlefield. Dynamics go from pianissimo to forte with a lot of changes in tempo that gradually increases with the …show more content…
He then continues the diminution by using whole notes followed by half notes until he finally uses half notes followed by quarter notes. He does this to indicate the increasing speed of the horse as Tancredi approaches his enemy.
In the same way, Monteverdi uses a recurrent descending tetrachord as a basso continuo in the piece Lamento della Ninfa in order to evoke a dark feeling in the music which reflects the meaning of the text as can be seen in the following example.
Example 4: Claudio Monteverdi, Lamento della Ninfa. Measures 1 - 4.
The bass line which is basically A-G-F-E is built based on long pitch values and is repeated throughout the piece. Similarly, Monteverdi uses high pitches in the melody in contrasts to the bass line which adds to the softness of the piece. In both pieces, the melody is mostly syllabic in homophonic style. The piece “Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” does not contain a variety of melodic contour, instead it is similar to a recitative. The use of exclamations in the melodic part makes the piece to approach the recitative with percussive vocals that displays rhythm and text moving together in a declamatory
Measures 153 -158.
In this example, the harmonic rhythm of the orchestral accompaniment accelerates, gaining a faster tempo carrying the singer through a passage of fast notes which raises the emotional intensity of the piece. Vocally, the stile concitato is reflected in a very articulated texture in which the words become more important than music.
In contrast, Lamento della Ninfa is a vocal piece in the form of a lamento or lament which is a musical form that usually expresses grief with a slower tempo and “...often built over a descending tetrachord ostinato.” The piece exhibits a softer style called molle that is presented with homophonic style. Basically, the piece is composed for four voices in antiphonal style; that is, the three lower voices function as accompaniment to the canto, the upper voice.
Example 2: Claudio Monteverdi, Lamento della Ninfa. Measures 5 - 8.
Also, the use of contrasting textures and dynamics show the characters’ dramatic emotions while they are in the battlefield. Dynamics go from pianissimo to forte with a lot of changes in tempo that gradually increases with the …show more content…
He then continues the diminution by using whole notes followed by half notes until he finally uses half notes followed by quarter notes. He does this to indicate the increasing speed of the horse as Tancredi approaches his enemy.
In the same way, Monteverdi uses a recurrent descending tetrachord as a basso continuo in the piece Lamento della Ninfa in order to evoke a dark feeling in the music which reflects the meaning of the text as can be seen in the following example.
Example 4: Claudio Monteverdi, Lamento della Ninfa. Measures 1 - 4.
The bass line which is basically A-G-F-E is built based on long pitch values and is repeated throughout the piece. Similarly, Monteverdi uses high pitches in the melody in contrasts to the bass line which adds to the softness of the piece. In both pieces, the melody is mostly syllabic in homophonic style. The piece “Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” does not contain a variety of melodic contour, instead it is similar to a recitative. The use of exclamations in the melodic part makes the piece to approach the recitative with percussive vocals that displays rhythm and text moving together in a declamatory