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: 5-Part Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 853201
for: für Chor STTTB, 2 Violinen und Basso continuo
Chorpartitur
Item no.: 1135308
for: Mixed choir (SATTB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 332166
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Study score
Item no.: 392185
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir (SSATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 910792
for: Chamber ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 1162823
for: Voice (high)
Buch
Item no.: 1085693
Marienvesper
for: gemischter Chor (SATTB/SATTB), Soli (SSAATTBB) und Orchester
Einzelstimme Violino da brazzo I
Item no.: 782292
for: 3 guitars
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1071520
for: 2 flutes, piano
Book
Item no.: 1191500
Mark Foster
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1123863
Mark Foster
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 825655
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 745239
Madrigali guerrieri
Set of parts
Item no.: 1629616
for: 5 Stimmen (SSATB) a cappella
Chorpartitur
Item no.: 1135291
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 204627
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 172168
for: 3 Flöten, Alt-Querflöte und Bass-Querflöte
Item no.: 1351929
for: für 3 Stimmen und 5 Stimmen ad lib SSAATTBB
Stimmensatz
Item no.: 401897
for: für 2 Tenöre, gemischten Chor (SSATTB) und Orchester
Vokalpartitur
Item no.: 1134966
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 925675
for: Mixed choir (SSATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1172305
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172297
for: Mixed choir (SSATTB) a cappella
Item no.: 455805
Marienvesper
for: gemischter Chor (SATTB/SATTB), Soli (SSAATTBB) und Orchester
Einzelstimme Contrabasso da gamba
Item no.: 782298
for: Chamber ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 1162830
Madrigalfassung aus dem 6. Madrigalbuch von 1614
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: Sopran, Alt, Tenor, Bass, Basso continuo
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 1615923
modello per l'analisi della musica polifonica vocale
Book
Item no.: 254222
Nr. 4 aus "Il quarto libro de madrigali"SV78
for: 5 Stimmen (SSATB) a cappella
Chorpartitur
Item no.: 361239
Concert Band
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1020296
Set of parts
Item no.: 1629417
for: für Chor SSATB
Chorpartitur
Item no.: 1135516
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 836468
for: für Chor SSATB, 2 Violinen und Basso continuo
Chorpartitur
Item no.: 1134904
for: für Chor SSAATTBB und Basso continuo Violine 1-4, Viola 1/2, Violoncello 1/2, Posaune 1/2
Stimmensatz
Item no.: 327943
for: 1. Violine
Stimme, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 878803
for: für Chor SSATB, 2 Violinen und Basso continuo Violine 1/2, Violoncello
Stimmensatz
Item no.: 167227
for: für Chor ATB, 2 Violinen und Basso continuo Violine 1/2
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1134892
for: Chamber ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 1162828
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Item no.: 154771
für fünf Soli (SSTTB), gemischten Chor (SATB), zwei Violinen und Basso continuo (Instrumente ad lib)
aus: Selva morale et spirituale
SV 272
Urtext
for: Soloists, mixed choir (SATB), instruments
Single part Organ
Item no.: 666942
Kantate (Psalm 117)
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392270
Marienvesper SV 206
Urtext
for: 7 soloists (SSATTBB), mixed choir (SSATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
Single part Organ
Item no.: 676268
Für Blockflötenquintett (SSATB
for: 5 recorders (SSATB)
Single part descant recorder 1
Item no.: 655442
Set of parts
Item no.: 1629511