Editing Claudio Monteverdi (section)

====Maturity: 1613–1630====
[[File:Veneza47.jpg|thumb|right|The basilica of [[St Mark's Basilica|San Marco]], Venice]]

Martinengo had been ill for some time before his death and had left the music of San Marco in a fragile state. The choir had been neglected and the administration overlooked.<ref name= Stevens83/> When Monteverdi arrived to take up his post, his principal responsibility was to recruit, train, discipline and manage the musicians of San Marco (the ''capella''), who amounted to about 30 singers and six instrumentalists; the numbers could be increased for major events.<ref name= Fabbri128>Fabbri (2007), pp. 128–129</ref> Among the recruits to the choir was [[Francesco Cavalli]], who joined in 1616 at the age of 14; he remained connected with San Marco throughout his life, and developed a close association with Monteverdi.<ref name=Cavalli>Walker and Alm (n.d.)</ref> Monteverdi also sought to expand the repertory, including not only the traditional ''[[a cappella]]'' repertoire of Roman and Flemish composers, but also examples of the modern style which he favoured, including the use of [[basso continuo|continuo]] and other instruments.<ref name= Fabbri128/> Apart from this he was of course expected to compose music for all the major feasts of the church. This included a new [[Mass (Catholic Church)|mass]] each year for [[Holy Cross Day]] and Christmas Eve, [[cantata]]s in honour of the Venetian [[Doge (title)|Doge]], and numerous other works (many of which are lost).<ref>Fabbri (2007), pp. 134–135</ref> Monteverdi was also free to obtain income by providing music for other Venetian churches and for other patrons, and was frequently commissioned to provide music for state banquets. The [[Procurator of San Marco|Procurators of San Marco]], to whom Monteverdi was directly responsible, showed their satisfaction with his work in 1616 by raising his annual salary from 300 [[ducat]]s to 400.<ref name=Carter3 />

The relative freedom which the Republic of Venice afforded him, compared to the problems of court politics in Mantua, are reflected in Monteverdi's letters to Striggio, particularly his letter of 13 March 1620, when he rejects an invitation to return to Mantua, extolling his present position and finances in Venice, and referring to the pension which Mantua still owes him.<ref>Stevens (1995), pp. 188–194</ref> Nonetheless, remaining a Mantuan citizen, he accepted commissions from the new Duke Ferdinando, who had formally renounced his position as Cardinal in 1616 to take on the duties of state. These included the ''[[Ballo#The baroque ballo|balli]]'' ''Tirsi e Clori'' (1616) and ''Apollo'' (1620), an opera ''[[Lost operas by Claudio Monteverdi#Andromeda (1618–20)|Andromeda]]'' (1620) and an ''[[intermedio]]'', ''[[Lost operas by Claudio Monteverdi#Le nozze di Tetide (1616–17)|Le nozze di Tetide]]'', for the marriage of Ferdinando with [[Catherine de' Medici, Governor of Siena|Caterina de' Medici]] (1617). Most of these compositions were extensively delayed in creation – partly, as shown by surviving correspondence, through the composer's unwillingness to prioritise them, and partly because of constant changes in the court's requirements.{{refn|Monteverdi's letters provide a detailed account of the various procrastinations and delays.<ref>Stevens (1995), pp. 106–150</ref>|group=n}} They are now lost, apart from ''Tirsi e Clori'', which was included in the seventh book of madrigals (published 1619) and dedicated to the Duchess Caterina, for which the composer received a pearl necklace from the Duchess.<ref name=Arnold516 /><ref name=Carter3 /><ref>Arnold (1980a), p. 531</ref> A subsequent major commission, the opera ''[[Lost operas by Claudio Monteverdi#La finta pazza Licori|La finta pazza Licori]]'', to a libretto by [[Giulio Strozzi]], was completed for Fernando's successor [[Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua|Vincenzo II]], who succeeded to the dukedom in 1626. Because of the latter's illness (he died in 1627), it was never performed, and it is now also lost.<ref name=Arnold516 />

[[File:Monteverdiletter.jpg|thumb|left|Letter from Monteverdi to Enzo Bentivoglio in Ferrara, 18 September 1627, ([[British Library]], MS Mus. 1707), discussing the composer's ''intermezzo, Didone ed Enea''<ref>See Stevens (1995), pp. 370–373.</ref>]]

Monteverdi also received commissions from other Italian states and from their communities in Venice. These included, for the Milanese community in 1620, music for the Feast of [[St. Charles Borromeo]], and for the [[Florence|Florentine]] community a [[Requiem Mass]] for [[Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Cosimo II de' Medici]] (1621).<ref name=Carter3 /> Monteverdi acted on behalf of Paolo Giordano II, Duke of [[Bracciano]], to arrange publication of works by the Cremona musician Francesco Petratti.<ref>Stevens (1995), pp. 151–153</ref> Among Monteverdi's private Venetian patrons was the nobleman Girolamo Mocenigo, at whose home was premiered in 1624 the dramatic entertainment ''[[Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda]]'' based on an episode from [[Torquato Tasso]]'s ''[[La Gerusalemme liberata]]''.<ref>Carter (2007) "Musical sources", p. 29</ref> In 1627 Monteverdi received a major commission from [[Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma|Odoardo Farnese]], Duke of [[Parma]], for a series of works, and gained leave from the Procurators to spend time there during 1627 and 1628.<ref name=Arnold516 />

Monteverdi's musical direction received the attention of foreign visitors. The Dutch diplomat and musician [[Constantijn Huygens]], attending a Vespers service at the church of SS. Giovanni e Lucia, wrote that he "heard the most perfect music I had ever heard in my life. It was directed by the most famous Claudio Monteverdi&nbsp;... who was also the composer and was accompanied by four [[theorbo]]s, two [[cornett]]os, two bassoons, one ''basso de viola'' of huge size, organs and other instruments&nbsp;...".<ref>Wistreich (2007), p. 261</ref> Monteverdi wrote a mass, and provided other musical entertainment, for the visit to Venice in 1625 of the [[Władysław IV Vasa|Crown Prince Władysław]] of Poland, who may have sought to revive attempts made a few years previously to lure Monteverdi to Warsaw.<ref name=Carter3 /> He also provided chamber music for [[Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg]], when the latter was paying an incognito visit to Venice in July 1625.<ref>Stevens (1995), p. 345</ref>

Correspondence of Monteverdi in 1625 and 1626 with the Mantuan courtier Ercole Marigliani reveals an interest in [[alchemy]], which apparently Monteverdi had taken up as a hobby. He discusses experiments to transform lead into gold, the problems of obtaining [[mercury (element)|mercury]], and mentions commissioning special vessels for his experiments from the glassworks at [[Murano]].<ref>Stevens (1995), pp. 289–301</ref>

Despite his generally satisfactory situation in Venice, Monteverdi experienced personal problems from time to time. He was on one occasion – probably because of his wide network of contacts – the subject of an anonymous denunciation to the Venetian authorities alleging that he supported the Habsburgs. He was also subject to anxieties about his children. His son Francesco, while a student of law at [[University of Padua|Padua]] in 1619, was spending in Monteverdi's opinion too much time with music, and he, therefore, moved him to the [[University of Bologna]]. This change did not have the desired result, and it seems that Monteverdi resigned himself to Francesco having a musical career – he joined the choir of San Marco in 1623. His other son Massimiliano, who graduated in medicine, was arrested by the [[Roman Inquisition|Inquisition]] in Mantua in 1627 for reading [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|forbidden literature]]. Monteverdi was obliged to sell the necklace he had received from Duchess Caterina to pay for his son's (eventually successful) defence. Monteverdi wrote at the time to Striggio seeking his help, and fearing that Massimiliano might be subject to torture; it seems that Striggio's intervention was helpful. Money worries at this time also led Monteverdi to visit Cremona to secure for himself a church [[Canon (priest)|canonry]].<ref name=Carter3>Carter and Chew (n.d.), §3 "Venice"</ref><ref>Stevens (1995), p. 402</ref>