Editing Claudio Monteverdi (section)

===Mantua: 1591–1613===
====Court musician====
[[File:Vincenzo I Gonzaga nel giorno dell%E2%80%99incoronazione.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga in his coronation robes (1587, by {{ill|Jeannin Bahuet|it}})]]

In the dedication of his second book of madrigals, Monteverdi had described himself as a player of the ''vivuola'' (which could mean either [[viola da gamba]] or viola da braccio).<ref name=Arnold515 /><ref>Bates (2002), p. 53</ref>{{refn|The viola da gamba (literally 'violin on the leg'), was held upright between the knees; the viola da braccio ('violin on the arm'), like the modern violin, was held beneath the chin.<ref>Holman (n.d.)</ref>|group=n}} In 1590 or 1591 he entered the service of Duke [[Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua|Vincenzo I Gonzaga]] of Mantua; he recalled in his dedication to the Duke of his third book of madrigals (Venice, 1592) that "the most noble exercise of the ''vivuola'' opened to me the fortunate way into your service."<ref>Holman (1993), p. 577</ref> In the same dedication he compares his instrumental playing to "flowers" and his compositions as "fruit" which as it matures "can more worthily and more perfectly serve you", indicating his intentions to establish himself as a composer.<ref>Fabbri (1994), pp. 27–28</ref>

Duke Vincenzo was keen to establish his court as a musical centre, and sought to recruit leading musicians. When Monteverdi arrived in Mantua, the ''maestro di capella'' at the court was the [[Flanders|Flemish]] musician [[Giaches de Wert]]. Other notable musicians at the court during this period included the composer and violinist [[Salomone Rossi]], Rossi's sister, the singer [[Madama Europa]], and [[Francesco Rasi]].<ref>Stevens (1995), p. 20</ref> Monteverdi married the court singer Claudia de Cattaneis in 1599; they were to have three children, two sons (Francesco, b. 1601 and Massimiliano, b. 1604), and a daughter who died soon after birth in 1603.<ref name=Arnold515 /> Monteverdi's brother Giulio Cesare joined the court musicians in 1602.<ref name = Ab534>Arnold (1980b), pp. 534–535</ref>

When Wert died in 1596, his post was given to [[Benedetto Pallavicino]], but Monteverdi was clearly highly regarded by Vincenzo and accompanied him on his military campaigns in Hungary (1595) and also on a visit to Flanders in 1599.<ref name=Arnold515 /> Here at the town of Spa he is reported by his brother Giulio Cesare as encountering, and bringing back to Italy, the ''canto alla francese''. (The meaning of this, literally "song in the French style", is debatable, but may refer to the French-influenced poetry of [[Gabriello Chiabrera]], some of which was set by Monteverdi in his ''Scherzi musicali'', and which departs from the traditional Italian style of lines of 9 or 11 syllables).<ref name=Carter2 /><ref>Vartolo, Sergio (n.d.), [https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.553317&catNum=553317&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English# "About this recording"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809024457/https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.553317&catNum=553317&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English |date=9 August 2017 }}, liner notes, ''Monteverdi: Scherzi Musicali a Tre Voci'', [[Naxos Records]], Catalogue number 8.553317</ref> Monteverdi may possibly have been a member of Vincenzo's entourage at [[Florence]] in 1600 for the marriage of [[Marie de' Medici|Maria de' Medici]] and [[Henry IV of France]], at which celebrations [[Jacopo Peri]]'s opera ''[[Euridice (Peri)|Euridice]]'' (the earliest surviving opera) was premiered. On the death of Pallavicino in 1601, Monteverdi was confirmed as the new ''maestro di capella''.<ref name=Carter2>Carter and Chew (n.d.), §2 "Mantua"</ref>

====Artusi controversy and ''seconda pratica''====
[[File:Claudio Monteverdi, engraved portrait from 'Fiori poetici' 1644 - Beinecke Rare Book Library (adjusted).jpg|thumb|upright|The only certain portrait of Claudio Monteverdi, from the title page of ''Fiori poetici'', a 1644 book of commemorative poems for his funeral<ref>[[Pamela Askew]], "Fetti's 'Portrait of an Actor' Reconsidered", ''[[The Burlington Magazine]]'', vol. 120, no. 899 (February 1978), pp. 59–65. {{JSTOR|879098}}.</ref>]]

At the turn of the 17th century, Monteverdi found himself the target of musical controversy. The influential [[Bologna|Bolognese]] theorist [[Giovanni Maria Artusi]] attacked Monteverdi's music (without naming the composer) in his work ''L'Artusi, overo Delle imperfettioni della moderna musica (Artusi, or On the imperfections of modern music)'' of 1600, followed by a sequel in 1603. Artusi cited extracts from Monteverdi's works not yet published (they later formed parts of his fourth and fifth books of madrigals of 1603 and 1605), condemning their use of [[harmony]] and their innovations in use of musical [[mode (music)|modes]], compared to orthodox [[polyphony|polyphonic]] practice of the sixteenth century.<ref name=Carter2 /> Artusi attempted to correspond with Monteverdi on these issues; the composer refused to respond, but found a champion in a pseudonymous supporter, "L'Ottuso Academico" ("The Obtuse Academic").<ref>Bowers (2007), p. 59</ref> Eventually Monteverdi replied in the preface to the fifth book of madrigals that his duties at court prevented him from a detailed reply; but in a note to "the studious reader", he claimed that he would shortly publish a response, ''Seconda Pratica, overo Perfettione della Moderna Musica (The Second Style, or Perfection of Modern Music)''.<ref>Bowers (2007), p. 63</ref> This work never appeared, but a later publication by Claudio's brother Giulio Cesare made it clear that the ''[[seconda pratica]]'' which Monteverdi defended was not seen by him as a radical change or his own invention, but was an evolution from previous styles (''[[prima pratica]]'') which was complementary to them.<ref>Bowers (2007), p. 66</ref>

This debate seems in any case to have raised the composer's profile, leading to reprints of his earlier books of madrigals.<ref name=Arnold515 /> Some of his madrigals were published in [[Copenhagen]] in 1605 and 1606, and the poet [[Tommaso Stigliani]] (1573–1651) published a eulogy of him in his 1605 poem "O sirene de' fiumi".<ref name=Carter2 /> The composer of [[madrigal comedy|madrigal comedies]] and theorist [[Adriano Banchieri]] wrote in 1609: "I must not neglect to mention the most noble of composers, Monteverdi&nbsp;... his expressive qualities are truly deserving of the highest commendation, and we find in them countless examples of matchless declamation&nbsp;... enhanced by comparable harmonies."<ref>Stevens (1995), p. 214</ref> The modern music historian Massimo Ossi has placed the Artusi issue in the context of Monteverdi's artistic development: "If the controversy seems to define Monteverdi's historical position, it also seems to have been about stylistic developments that by 1600 Monteverdi had already outgrown".<ref>Ossi (2007), p. 100</ref>

The non-appearance of Monteverdi's promised explanatory treatise may have been a deliberate ploy, since by 1608, by Monteverdi's reckoning, Artusi had become fully reconciled to modern trends in music, and the ''seconda pratica'' was by then well established; Monteverdi had no need to revisit the issue.<ref name= Chrissochoidis>{{cite journal|last= Chrissochoidis|first= Ilias|title= The "Artusi–Monteverdi" controversy: Background, content, and modern interpretations|url= https://www.academia.edu/249264|journal= British Postgraduate Musicology|volume= 6|publisher= King's College, London|date= 27 March 2015|access-date= 9 July 2017|archive-date= 31 March 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210331130208/https://www.academia.edu/249264/The_Artusi_Monteverdi_controversy_Background_content_and_modern_interpretations|url-status= live}}</ref> On the other hand, letters to [[Giovanni Battista Doni]] of 1632 show that Monteverdi was still preparing a defence of the ''seconda pratica'', in a treatise entitled ''Melodia''; he may still have been working on this at the time of his death ten years later.<ref>Stevens (1995), pp. 420–422</ref>

====Opera, conflict and departure====
[[File:Francesco Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, by workshop of Frans Pourbus the Younger.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Duke Francesco IV Gonzaga, by the studio of [[Frans Pourbus the Younger]]]]
In 1606 Vincenzo's heir [[Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua|Francesco]] commissioned from Monteverdi the opera ''[[L'Orfeo]]'', to a [[libretto]] by [[Alessandro Striggio the Younger|Alessandro Striggio]], for the [[Carnival]] season of 1607. It was given two performances in February and March 1607; the singers included, in the title role, Rasi, who had sung in the first performance of ''Euridice'' witnessed by Vincenzo in 1600. This was followed in 1608 by the opera ''[[L'Arianna]]'' (libretto by [[Ottavio Rinuccini]]), intended for the celebration of the marriage of Francesco to [[Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal|Margherita of Savoy]]. All the music for this opera is lost apart from ''Ariadne's Lament'', which became extremely popular.{{refn|As late as 1932, the composer [[Francesco Malipiero]] commented that of all Monteverdi's works, "only ''Ariadne's Lament'' has prevented us from completely forgetting the most famous composer of the seventeenth century."<ref>Malipiero (1932), p. 383</ref>|group=n}} To this period also belongs the ballet entertainment ''[[Il ballo delle ingrate]]''.<ref name=Carter2 /><ref>Whenham (2007) "Chronology", p. xvii</ref><ref>Pryer (2007), p. 12</ref>

The strain of the hard work Monteverdi had been putting into these and other compositions was exacerbated by personal tragedies. His wife died in September 1607 and the young singer [[Caterina Martinelli]], intended for the title role of ''Arianna'', died of [[smallpox]] in March 1608. Monteverdi also resented his increasingly poor financial treatment by the Gonzagas. He retired to Cremona in 1608 to convalesce, and wrote a bitter letter to Vincenzo's minister Annibale Chieppio in November of that year seeking (unsuccessfully) "an honourable dismissal".<ref>Stevens (1995), pp. 46–54</ref> Although the Duke increased Monteverdi's salary and pension, and Monteverdi returned to continue his work at the court, he began to seek patronage elsewhere. After publishing his [[Vespro della Beata Vergine|Vespers]] in 1610, which were dedicated to [[Pope Paul V]], he visited Rome, ostensibly hoping to place his son Francesco at a [[seminary]], but apparently also seeking alternative employment. In the same year he may also have visited Venice, where a large collection of his church music was being printed, with a similar intention.<ref name=Carter2 /><ref name=Arnold516>Arnold (1980a), p. 516</ref>

Duke Vincenzo died on 18 February 1612. When Francesco succeeded him, court intrigues and cost-cutting led to the dismissal of Monteverdi and his brother Giulio Cesare, who both returned, almost penniless, to Cremona. Despite Francesco's own death from smallpox in December 1612, Monteverdi was unable to return to favour with his successor, his brother [[Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua|Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga]]. In 1613, following the death of [[Giulio Cesare Martinengo]], Monteverdi auditioned for his post as ''maestro'' at the [[basilica of San Marco]] in Venice, for which he submitted music for a Mass. He was appointed in August 1613, and given 50 [[ducats]] for his expenses (of which he was robbed, together with his other belongings, by highwaymen at [[Sanguinetto]] on his return to Cremona).<ref name=Carter2 /><ref name= Stevens83>Stevens (1995), pp. 83–85</ref>