Part A: Research and Bibliography Exercise

Carter, Tim, and Geoffrey Chew. "Monteverdi [Monteverde], Claudio." Grove Music

Online. 2001; Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.
001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000044352.

Chrissochoidis, Ilias. “An Emblem of Modern Music: Temporal Symmetry in the Prologue of
‘L’Orfeo’ (1607).” Early Music 39, no. 4 (2011): 519–29.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41502312.

This article looks at the structure of L'Orfeo's prologue. It examines how Monteverdi is
able to shape the musical expressiveness for structural purposes.

Jackson, David M. Poppea. The BBC Video Collection United States. British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC), 2000. https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/poppea-episode-1.
820474148

Kelly, Thomas Forrest, and Francesco Landini. Capturing Music: The Story of Notation. First ed.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.
881721206

Monteveredi, Claudio. L’Orfeo

826498085

Kelly, Thomas Forrest. “Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo: Saturday, February 24, 1607.” In First
Nights: Five Musical Premieres, 2–59. Yale University Press, 2000.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt32bvpq.5.
Part B: Short Essay

While producing early opera, composers like Claudio Monteverdi faced many challenges

and difficulties in their work. One of these many challenges involved the multiple roles and

responsibilities composers would be forced to take in order to sustain their family’s livelihood

and to grow in their profession as composers. Monteverdi took responsibilities such as being

the organizer of the day-to-day concerts and musical recreations for the court of Mantua, as

well as providing music for their court events on top of composing operas. These jobs

presented challenges in themselves and prove as to why being an early opera composer often

required lots of hard work, and how they received little respect in return.

Monteverdi’s role was in between being a servant for the court of Mantua and a genius

in residence. He was often asked to provide music for important court occasions, but he felt he

never received the amount of respect necessary given the quality of his works and quantity

asked for by the duke and high court officials. We can see the other types of events Monteverdi

was tasked with writing music for in Thomas Kelly’s First Nights: Five Musical Premieres. In

Chapter 1 he says, "As noted, he was enormously busy, ‘now in tournaments, now in plays, now

in bal- lettir.’”1 He was also often asked to organize for musicians to play wind instruments as

often as possible by the prince. This included musicians playing “in private, in church, in pro-

cession, and atop city walls; now madrigals, now French songs, now airs, and now dance-

1
Kelly, Thomas Forrest. “Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo: Saturday, February 24, 1607.” In First Nights: Five Musical
Premieres, 2–59. Yale University Press, 2000. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt32bvpq.5.
songs.”2 These many jobs made it difficult to work on larger works of music that would take

more effort to write like operas.

In 1607, the duke of Mantua asked for an opera to be written and to be performed as

courtly entertainment for the annual Carnival at Mantua. So, Monteverdi began writing L’Orfeo,

but ran into some difficulties while trying to produce the opera. One problem was that they

didn’t have immediate access to the correct number of singers needed to perform Orfeo. This

had to be solved by reaching out to other cities to see if they could send the singer needed in

order to stage the play. This was eventually figured out, but since the new singer had little time

to practice until the performance, lots of work had to be done in order to put on the

performance.

Another difficulty involved in the production of Orfeo was the small room and

temporary stage that was provided for the performance of the opera. We know this from a

quote from Carlo Magni’s remark in Thomas Kelly’s book, “(‘unless I am prevented from getting

in by lack of space’) that the hall was small and narrow.” 3 This again showed how even though

the court would ask for Monteverdi for many jobs to be done, they still showed no respect to

the effort that he and many musicians would put in to perform for them.

Even though composers are considered artists today, they were often treated as

servants by the courts. They were utilized by the courts as if it was their duty to entertain them

constantly throughout the day. So even if they might not have been appreciated by the courts

2
Kelly, Thomas Forrest. “Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo: Saturday, February 24, 1607.” In First Nights: Five Musical
Premieres, 2–59.
3
Kelly, Thomas Forrest. “Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo: Saturday, February 24, 1607.” In First Nights: Five Musical
Premieres, 2–59.
that employed them, Monteverdi’s efforts and the efforts of many musicians haven’t gone

unnoticed throughout time.