Editing Claudio Monteverdi (section)

====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>