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.
for: Voice and Instrumental
Score
Item no.: 992509
Amor Lamento Della Ninfa
for: 4-Part Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 992585
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Music score
Item no.: 755626
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Music score
Item no.: 725664
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 624972
L'incoronazione di Poppea
for: Voice (alto/mezzo-soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 743785
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 1. Viola
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 873368
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Soprane solo (2), Alt solo (Alte solo (2)), Tenöre solo (3), Bässe solo (2), Gemischter Chor:SSATTB, Gemischte Chöre (2):SATTB, Zink (3), Violinen (3), Violen (3), Cello, Kontrabass, Flöten (2), Blockflöten (2), Posaunen (3), Bass-Posaune (tief), (Orgel, Basso continuo)
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 614410
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 1. Violine
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 878803
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 2. Viola
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 874143
Sätze in hohen Schlüsseln
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Soprane solo (2), Alt solo (Alte solo (2)), Tenöre solo (3), Bässe solo (2), Gemischter Chor:SSATTB, Gemischte Chöre (2):SATTB, Zink (3), Violinen (3), Violen (3), Cello, Kontrabass, Flöten (2), Blockflöten (2), Posaunen (3), Bass-Posaune (tief), (Orgel, Basso continuo)
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 873109
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Cello, Kontrabass
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 876110
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Basso continuo (Bassus Generalis)
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 878596
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 1. Flöte, 2. Flöte, 1. Zink (3. Zink), 2. Zink (3. Zink), 1. Posaune, 2. Posaune, 3. Posaune, Bass-Posaune (tief)
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 882275
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 3. Viola
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 879186
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 2. Violine
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 875716
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 3. Violine
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 870481
L'incoronazione di Poppea
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 733514
for: SSATTB Singstimmen und Basso continuo
Set of parts
Item no.: 1629451
for: SSATTB Singstimmen und Basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 1204146
for: SSATTB Singstimmen und Basso continuo
Conductor score
Item no.: 1585046
Madrigali amorosi
Score
Item no.: 549793
Madrigali guerrieri
Score
Item no.: 549815
for: Choir
Item no.: 1629448
for: Choir
Item no.: 1629496
for: Choir
Item no.: 613638
for: Choir
Item no.: 1629727
Score
Item no.: 549807
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Soli [SAATB] and Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 983439
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Soli [SAATB] and Piano
Score
Item no.: 983696
Libera Trascrizione Per Orchestra Della Toccata Da 'L'Orfeo (2009)
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1548275
National-Emerson Fred Bock
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1003198
Score
Item no.: 553305
Score
Item no.: 549869
Score
Item no.: 446258
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Music score
Item no.: 740344
Madrigali amorosi
Score
Item no.: 366530
Score
Item no.: 446347
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Music score
Item no.: 760668
1.4 Ahi, che pur non risponde! (Lamento d’Arianna - Quarta parte)
for: Mixed choir (SSATB), basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 1629686
1. Non si levav’ancor l’alba novella - Prima parte
for: SSATB Chor
Choir score
Item no.: 1629649
8. Vattene pur, crudel, con quella pace - Prima parte
for: SSATB Chor
Choir score
Item no.: 1629537
20. Ardi o gela a tua voglia - Risposta
for: SSATB Chor
Choir score
Item no.: 1629529
4. Ecco, Silvio, colei che in odio hai tanto - Prima parte
for: Mixed choir (SSATB), basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 1629517
from Madrigali. Libro VI, Venezia 1614
for: 5 Gesang (SSATB) und Basso continuo
Set of parts
Item no.: 1629390
10. Almo divino raggio - Seconda parte
for: SSATB Chor
Choir score
Item no.: 1629766
1.3 Dove, dove è la fede (Lamento d’Arianna - Terza parte)
for: Mixed choir (SSATB), basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 1629659
15. Troppo ben può questo tiranno Amore!
for: SAATB Chor und Basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 1629639