Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria

As a composer in Renaissance Venice, Monteverdi was familiar with the ideas of The Accademia Degli Incogniti. This was a group of influential thinkers, writers and other aristocrats, whose principal philosophy based on debates and looking at the issues of politics, beauty and also love from different points of view. They valued the multiplicity of interpretations, which also influenced Giacomo Badoaro and Giovanni Francesco Busenello, who wrote the librettos for Monteverdi’s operas Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea. The ideas of the Accademia thus also reached Monteverdi, who tried to depict the different views on love in these two operas through his innovative musical language and with the help of the emerging genre…

that whatever consorts (whole or broken families of instruments) are available. Monteverdi was able to enjoy the success of this work while he was still alive and it has continued to be popular with music lovers as this is the oldest known work to be performed regularly in modern times. He stayed with the court until 1612, when the Duke passed away and soon after began to serve as maestro di cappella at the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice. This is where he stayed until his death in 1643. With…

the old, Renaissance style as the “prima prattica”, and the newer style of the Baroque as the “seconda prattica”. His style was different from his predecessors. He brought life and drama to the stage using tempo and key changes that were critical to the story. He showed a mastery over transforming primitive means of composing to a new rich and fluid mood altering power. He did of course compose operas, as was the style of the period, but he shied away from the genre for a while. He returned…