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.
aus Band 15/3 der GA
Monteverdi GA
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 166563
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 236101
Geistliche Musik
for: SATB, Brass Instruments, String Instruments, Organ Accompaniment
Score
Item no.: 550495
Christmas Motet
for: Soli (SAT/SAA) und 3 Blockflöten (SST/STT/SAT)
Score
Item no.: 729197
mit beiden Versionen des Magnificat
for: Soloists, 2 mixed choirs (SSATTB, SATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 677596
für 6 Stimmen - SSAATTB
for: Soloists, mixed choir (SATB), basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 633612
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Item no.: 363843
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB / SAABar), [Basso continuo]
Score
Item no.: 236111
(Luk. 1, 46-55)
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: GCH (6) ORG
Score
Item no.: 392271
Weihnachtsmotette
for: 3 gleiche oder gemischte Stimmen (SAA oder SAT)
Chorpartitur mit untergelegtem Klavierauszug
Item no.: 751598
mit beiden Versionen des Magnificat
Lauda einen Ganzton, Magnificat eine kleine Terz abwärts transponiert
Musiche Varie – Musik des 17. Jahrhunderts
for: Soloists, 2 mixed choirs (SSATTB, SATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 633323
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB / SAABar), [Basso continuo]
Score
Item no.: 1658804
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 236109
(Urtext)
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 181771
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 647981
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 236112
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 236103
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
A 8 voci con 6 vel 10 istromenti SV (1640)
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Single part Trombone 1
Item no.: 647103
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Single part(n)
Item no.: 236108
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Viola 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 236106
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Single part Basso continuo
Item no.: 236110
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 236104
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 236105
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB), orchestra
Viola 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 236107
Akademos tascabili musica 4
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 768682
Marienvesper SV 206
Ausgabe für Sopran
for: 7 soloists (SSATTBB), mixed choir (SSATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
4 Playback-CDs (choir part soprano)
Item no.: 676143
Marienvesper SV 206
Ausgabe für Bass
for: 7 soloists (SSATTBB), mixed choir (SSATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
4 Playback-CDs (choir part bass)
Item no.: 676146
Marienvesper SV 206
Ausgabe für Tenor
for: 7 soloists (SSATTBB), mixed choir (SSATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
4 Playback-CDs (choir part tenor)
Item no.: 676145
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Music score
Item no.: 760668
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Music score
Item no.: 740344