The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Monteverde, Claudio

MONTEVERDE, mȯṅ'tā-vãr'dā, or MONTEVERDI, Claudio, Italian composer: b. Cremona, May 1567; d. Venice 29 Nov. 1643. He was a pupil of Ingegneri at Mantua, became (1590) violinist and singer at the Mantuan court and was appointed (1602) bandmaster. In 1613 he was appointed bandmaster of Saint Mark's, Venice, in which position he served till his death. His is one of the most interesting personalities in the history of modern music. He was a pioneer in opera and became noted as composer of madrigals before entering (1583) the operatic field. Among his operas are

&lsquo;Orfeo&rsquo; (1607); &lsquo;Arianna&rsquo; (1608); &lsquo;Proserpina rapita&rsquo; (1630); &lsquo;Adone&rsquo; (1639); &lsquo;Enca e Lavinia&rsquo; (1641); &lsquo;Ulisse&rsquo; (1641); &lsquo;L'incoronatione di Pappea&rsquo; (1642). He also composed a ballet, &lsquo;Tirsi e Clori&rsquo; (1615) and the dramatic scene &lsquo;Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda&rsquo; (1624), besides numerous religious works as masses, psalms, motets, etc. Consult Vogel, Emil, &lsquo;Claudio Montéverdé&rsquo; (in Vierteljahrsschrift für Musikwissenschaft 1889); Goldsmith, &lsquo;Studien der geschichte der Italienischen Opera in 17 Jahrhundert&rsquo; (Leipzig 1904); Mitjana, Rafael, &lsquo;Claudio Monteverde&rsquo; (Malaga 1911).