Claudio Monteverdi

Monteverdi was an Italian composer, gambist and Catholic priest, born

in Cremona in 1567. He was married with the court singer Claudia Cattaneo.
They had two sons (Francesco and Massimilino) and a daughter (Leonora).
Much of his early years Monteverdi's spent composing madrigals, completing
his first book of madrigals by the time he was 17. At age 24, he became a
musician in the court of Mantova, where he eventually became music
director. In August 1613, he was appointed to one of the most prestigious
musical positions in Italy, that of maestro di cappella at the famous basilica
of St. Mark's in Venice. By his mid-40s, he became the most celebrated
composer in Italy.
Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the
change from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period.
From his early days he was always preoccupied with achieving the utmost
degree of expressiveness, and did not bother to create new forms in religious
or theatrical music or in the madrigal. To emphasize the wide ranging
emotions of his characters, Monteverdi subdued the traditional polyphonic
structure of the Renaissance, in which all vocal elements were projected
equally. Instead, he placed words and emotions in the foreground. He wanted
to express only the human passions, and in doing so he is never either too
conventional or too extreme.

Monteverdi composed a total of nine books. As a whole, the first eight

books of madrigals show the enormous development from Renaissance
polyphonic music to the monodic style typical of Baroque music.
The titles of his Madrigal books are:

Book 1, 1587: Madrigali a cinque voci

Book 2, 1590: Il secondo libro de madrigali a cinque voci

Book 3, 1592: Il terzo libro de madrigali a cinque voci

Book 4, 1603: Il quarto libro de madrigali a cinque voci

Book 5, 1605: Il quinto libro de madrigali a cinque voci

Book 6, 1614: Il sesto libro de madrigali a cinque voci

Book 7, 1619: Concerto. Settimo libro di madrigali

Book 8, 1638: Madrigali guerrieri, et amorosi con alcuni opuscoli

in genere rappresentativo, che saranno per brevi episodi fra i
canti senza gesto.

Book 9, 1651: Madrigali e canzonette a due e tre voci

Book 8, Ottavo Libro, includes what many consider to be the perfected

form of the madrigal.
In 1607, Monteverdi took imitation of ancient Greek drama and turned
it on its head with, arguably, the first true opera, LOrfeo, which he
dedicated to his son Francesco. The melodramatic cycle closes with the
Incoronazione Poppea. This work and Orfeo are the strongest pillars of Italian
music-drama.

He passed away in Venice in 1643.

Works Cited
Glixon, Jonathan E. Renaissance Quarterly 50.4 (1997): 1270-271. Web.
Malipiero, G. Francesco, and Gerster-Gardini Berta. "Claudio Monteverdi of
Cremona." The Musical Quarterly 18.3 (1932): 383-96. Web.
Sartori, Claudio, and Levine Alice. "Monteverdiana." The Musical Quarterly
38.3 (1952): 399-413. Web.