Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) is an Italian composer, who is perhaps the most well-known composer to precede J.S Bach. Browse our sheet music and scores, and explore the wide world of Divino Claudio with Stretta Music today!
Claudio Monteverdi was born in Cremona in 1567, the same year Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina published the “Missa papae Marcelli”, a good example of the austere style imposed upon musicians by the Church at the time. Monteverdi was a pupil of Marc’Antonio Ingegneri, the choir master of Cremona Cathedral. His compositional talent was soon recognised, and at the age of 15 he published the “Sacrae cantiunculae”, compositions for three voices, at 16 the “Madrigali spirituali” and at 17 the “Canzonette”. In 1589, at the age of 22, he joined the Court of Mantua as a viola player, and in 1603 he became Maestro di Cappella. Ten years later, in 1613 he moved to Venice, to take up the same position at St. Mark’s Basilica, where he stayed until his death in 1643.
In Monteverdi’s “First Book of Madrigals” from 1587, one can already find progressive harmonic and melodic elements that break tradition, but it is his “Fifth Book of Madrigals” from 1605, that really marks the transition between the Renaissance and the Baroque periods. It was through his harmonic and melodic experimentation that Monteverdi coined the stile concitato, as seen in his famous “Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” from 1624.
Divino Claudio, as Claudio Monteverdi is often referred to in Italy, is best known as the inventor of musical melodrama. Although he wrote at least 18 operas, only “L’Orfeo”, 1607, the aria “Lamento d’Arianna” from “L’Arianna”, 1608, “Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria”, 1640, and the “Incoronazione di Poppea”, 1643, have been preserved.
Interesting that Monteverdi chose to write “L’Orfeo” as one of his first theatrical works, the “Fable in Music” dedicated to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is said to be the first work in the history of music, and it is the same story that ends an era, namely with “Orpheus” by Gluck. According to Claudio Toscani, Orpheus is “the first real protagonist in the history of modern musical theatre”, and with him the history of opera really began.
Contemporary musicologists have devoted much attention to Monteverdi and his compositions. Gian Francesco Malipiero commissioned the publication of Opera Omnia to “spread the works of one of Italy’s true geniuses” and “to show once again how great manifestations of art always remain modern’.
The Monteverdi Festival takes place in Cremona every year, where the Fondazione Claudio Monteverdi, which is dedicated to the critical editions of his work, is located.
A fresh rose is regularly placed at the tomb of Claudio Monteverdi in the Basilica dei Frari di Venezia.
in freier Neugestaltung
for: Alt und Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 741264
Marienvesper
for: SSAATTTTBB, Orchester
Klavierauszug mit Continuo-Aussetzung
Item no.: 736362
Motet
for: Singstimme und Klavier (Cembalo/Orgel)
Music score
Item no.: 748680
aus: "L’Orfeo" (1609)
eingerichtet für Blockflötenquintett und Basso continuo ad lib.
for: 5 recorders (SSATB); basso continuo ad lib.
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 3156
aus "Il sesto libro de madrigali" (1615)
for: 5 recorders (AATTB)
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 1072
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Music score
Item no.: 755626
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB), SATB, Violinen (2), Posaunen (4) (Gamben (4) o Violen (3), Cello o Violen (2), Celli (2)), Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1337243
aus Il terzo libro de madrigali 1592
for: SSATB
Score
Item no.: 1338202
aus: Marienvesper
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB), SATB, 4, 8 Melodieinstrumente, Orgel, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338196
aus Libro primo de Motetti, ed.G. C. Bianchi 1620
for: Chor SSATBB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338192
for: Brass quintet
Sheet music
Item no.: 1265800
aus: "L’Orfeo" (1609)
eingerichtet für Blechbläserquintett und Basso continuo ad lib.
for: 2 trumpets (C/B-flat), 3 trombones; basso continuo ad lib.
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 3155
aus Libro primo de Motetti, ed. G. C. Bianchi 1620
for: Mixed choir (SSATTB), basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338194
L'incoronazione di Poppea
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 733514
Score
Item no.: 1337195
aus Il secondo libro de madrigali 1590
for: SSATB
Score
Item no.: 1338205
G
for: Flute, piano
Instrumental Solo & Accompaniment
Item no.: 1645955
aus Libro primo de motetti, ed. G. C. Bianchi 1620
for: SSATB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338193
Madrigal aus Il secondo libro de madrigali
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 795665
1. Ah, leave me here to perish
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 755301
Sfogava con le stelle
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 734656
aus "Il sesto libro de madrigali" (1615)
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1874
aus: Sacrae Cantiunculae
for: Mixed choir (SAB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1339593
for: Brass quintet
Sheet music
Item no.: 1265841
for: Soli, Chor SSATTB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1337398
Score
Item no.: 1337388
aus Il quinto libro de madrigali 1605
for: SSATB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338198
aus der Oper "L´Orfeo"
(Ausgabe in B-, C- und D-Dur)
for: Trumpet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1631783
L'incoronazione di Poppea
for: Voice (alto/mezzo-soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 743785
Score
Item no.: 1337386
aus Il secondo libro de madrigali 1590
for: SSATB
Score
Item no.: 1338206
aus Il quarto libro de madrigali 1603
for: SSATB
Score
Item no.: 1338201
aus Libro primo de Motetti, ed. G. C. Bianchi 1620
for: Mixed choir (SSATTB), basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338195
Selva morale et spirituale (1641)
for: 1-stimmig, Klavier
Score
Item no.: 1338106
O primavera
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 729157
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) a cappella oder mit Basso continuo
Studienpartitur (= Singpartitur)
Item no.: 749274
Madrigal aus Il terzo libro de madrigali
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 795668
A lover’s tears at the tomb of his beloved
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 723395
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Music score
Item no.: 725664
aus der Oper "L'Orfeo"
for: 2 trumpets, organ
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1631758
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB) (SAABar), [Basso continuo]
Score
Item no.: 1337242
aus Il Quarto libro de madrigali 1603
for: SSATB
Score
Item no.: 1338200
aus Salva morale e spirituale (1641)
for: ATTB, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1338190
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1338134
L'Orfeo
for: Voice (bass/baritone), piano
Music score
Item no.: 757401
Madrigal cycle
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 761296
for: Clarinet, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1561410
aus: Selva morale e spirituale
for: Chor SSATTBB, Violinen (2), Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 1337244