Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/513

OPERA. names of which are indicated at the beginning. A complete Score of the Opera was published at Venice in 1609, and reprinted in 1613 [App. p.734 "1615"]. A copy of the second edition, now preserved in the Royal Library at Buckingham Palace, was formerly in the possession of Sir John Hawkins, who quoted from it largely, in vol. iii. of his 'History of Music.' As specimens of the general style of the work, we subjoin a few bars of Recitative from a Scene in the First Act, and the 'Moresca' or 'Moorish Dance' with which the Opera concludes—a movement full of interest, as an indication of the Composer's desire to unite a graceful flow of melody with a symmetrical and well constructed Form. [See .]

The expense attendant upon the production of these early Operas must have been enormous. The gorgeous dresses, and other incidental appointments, occasionally mentioned by writers of the period, sufficiently explain why the Dramma in Musica was reserved exclusively for the entertainment of Princes, on occasions of extraordinary public rejoicing. No such occasions appear to have presented themselves for some considerable time after the marriage of Franceso Gonzaga. Accordingly we find, that, after following up 'Orfeo' with a grand Mythological Spectacle called 'Il Ballo delle Ingrate,' Monteverde produced no more dramatic works till the year 1624, when, having settled permanently in Venice, he wrote, at the instance of Girolamo Mocenigo, an Intermezzo, 'Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda,' in which he introduced, for the first time, two important Orchestral Effects, which have remained in common use to the present day—pizzicato passages for the Stringed Instruments, and the well-known tremolo. [See .] In 1630 he again took higher ground, and composed, for the marriage of Giustiniana Mocenigo with Lorenzo Giustiniani, a grand Opera called 'Proserpina Rapita,' which was brought out with extraordinary magnificence, and seems to have been very successful. The Music, however, was soon destined to be forgotten; for this was the year rendered memorable by the terrible plague, which, completely devastating the larger Italian Cities, rendered all intellectual advancement for the time being impossible. As we shall presently see, when it had had time to recover from this