Monteverdi’s Opera

Claudio Monteverdi is considered as atomic number 53 of the greatest composers in the fib of music. Composer of operatic masterpieces, Monteverdis works are said to have joined the music of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Kamien, 1998, p. 117). One of his best-known creations is Orfeo, also called LOrfeo, an opera about Orpheus, the musician in the Greek mythology (p. 117). The opera deals with Orpheus suffer about the death of his wife Eurydice from a lethal snake routine (p.117). The opera was created for the Mantuan judicatory and featured prominent stars, dancers, a chorus and an orchestra consisting of 40 musicians (p. 118). This masterpiece has the salient and literary elements that cemented Monteverdis status during the Baroque era.Born in Cremona, Italy, in 1567, Monteverdi served as a singer, violinist and music director for the court of Mantua (Kamien, 1998, p. 117). He was appointed music director at St. Marks in Venice, where he worked for 30 years (p. 117). O pera was said to wax in Italy, where composers, nobles, and poets usually convened to hold musical discussions (p. 115). The first opera loosenessturgy was in Venice (p. 116). These individuals, who at one point included Vincenzo Galilei, the father of Galileo, called themselves the Camerata or Italian for fellowship or society (p. 115).The Camerata yearned to develop vocal port patterned after the ideals and practices of the Greeks (p. 115). However, since there was no concrete Greek dramatic music, the Camerata patterned their creations on surviving stories and descriptions (p. 115). Greek dramas were described as macrocosm sung in a style between melody and bringing (p.115). The Camerata decided on a vocal style that was recited and would have a single chordal accompaniment that resulted in a homophonic grain (p. 115). This homophonic texture is a characteristic of the Baroque opera. But wherefore Greek?The aristocrats fascination with Greek mythology and history was one o f the main reasons why composers and musicians created operas reflecting Greek dramas (Kamien, 1998, p. 115). It may also be because Renaissance, the period preceded by the Baroque, was a period wherein Greek philosophy, architecture and ideals were given paramount interest. Renaissance operator rebirth and perhaps this included rebirth of the earlier times, which included the antediluvian patriarch civilization of the Greeks. Then it continued with the Baroque period, with the aristocrats still favoring Greek drama and composers and musicians trying to please them.Monteverdi was able to create effects, such as pizzicato and tremolo to reflect feelings such as that of anger (Kamien, 1998, p. 117). Additionally, his expressive use of polyphony while at the same time allowing instruments to function aside from plainly accompanying he vocal parts is truly an innovation. With Orfeo, Monteverdi was able to film different kinds of music recitatives, arias, duets, choruses and instrum ental interludes (p.118).He had a panache of making his characters come after alive (p. 118). The texts are set in such a way that the recitatives and the melodic passages rotate (p. 118). This resulted in a feeling of heightened passion, allowing the soloist to move from one mood to another. Monteverdi was a master in achieving this.Monteverdi wrote about 12 operas hardly only 3 were preserved (Kamien, 1998, p. 117). His music was mainly for voices, accompanied with a basso continuo or instruments (p. 117). At 75, Monteverdi finished his last opera Linconronazione di Poppea or The Coronation of Poppea (p. 117). In his lifetime, Monteverdi was known for his opera alone was not given due respect. In fact, he was once quoted as saying that he had to beg to be given what was due him (p. 117). It is pathetic that Monteverdi uttered those words once and while it is sad to note that he is no around to read, see and hear people admire him, it is copious that in death, Monteverdis wor ks live on.ReferenceKamien, R. (1998). Music An Appreciation third ed. USA McGraw-Hill.