The Cambridge Companion To Monteverdi

Edited by John Whenham, Richard Wistreich

Claudio Monteverdi is one of the most important figures of early music, a composer whose music speaks powerfully and directly to modern audiences. This book provides an up-to-date and authoritative treatment of Monteverdi and his music, complementing Paolo Fabbris standard biography of the composer. Written by leading specialists in the field, it is aimed at students, performers and music-lovers in general and adds significantly to our understanding of Monteverdis music, his life, and the contexts in which he worked. Chapters offering overviews of his output of sacred, secular and dramatic music are complemented by intermedi, in which contributors examine individual works, or sections of works in detail. The book draws extensively on Monteverdis letters and includes a select discography/videography and a complete list of Monteverdis works together with an index of first lines and titles.

Bibliographic Details

23 b/w illus. 53 music examples

Contents

• Preface
• Chronology
• 1. Approaching Monteverdi: his cultures and ours Anthony Pryer
• 2. Musical sources Tim Carter
• 3. A model musical education: Monteverdis early works Geoffrey Chew
• Intermedio I: Ecco mormorar londe (1590) Geoffrey Chew
• 4. Monteverdi at Mantua 1590–1612 Roger Bowers
• 5. Spaces for music in late Renaissance Mantua Paola Besutti
• 6. The Mantuan madrigals and Scherzi musicali Massimo Ossi
• Intermedio II: Ahi come a un vago sol cortese giro (1605) Massimo Ossi
• 7. Orfeo (1607) Joachim Steinheuer
• 8. The Mantuan sacred music Jeffrey Kurtzman
• Intermedio III: Laetatus sum (1610) Jeffrey Kurtzman
• 9. Music in Monteverdis Venice Iain Fenlon
• 10. The Venetian secular music Tim Carter
• Intermedio IV: Lamento della Ninfa (1638) Tim Carter
• 11. The Venetian sacred music John Whenham
• Intermedio V: Magnificat SV281 (1641) John Whenham
• 12. Monteverdis late operas Ellen Rosand
• Intermedio VI: Il ritorno dUlisse (1640), Act V, scene 10 Ellen Rosand
• 13. Monteverdi studies and new musicologies Suzanne Cusick
• 14. Monteverdi in performance Richard Wistreich
• Bibliography
• Selected discography Richard Wistreich
• The works of Monteverdi: catalogue and index John Whenham
• Index of titles and first lines.