Monteverdi: Madrigals of Love & Loss (from Books 6-8)

Featuring

Anna Dennis
Callum Thorpe
James Gilchrist
Jonathan Cohen
Katherine Watson
Samuel Boden

Thomas Walker
Tim Mead
Arcangelo
Claudio Monteverdi
Tarquinio Merula

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

In the Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Monteverdi used the first ever example of written-out pizzicato to illustrate the sound of sword pommels hitting each other.

Performer Biography

Jonathan Cohen, the director of Arcangelo, is also the Artistic Director of the Tetbury Music Festival and Associate Conductor of Les Arts Florissants.

Notable Performances

The Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda was first performed in Venice during Carnival 1624 in the apartment of Girolamo Mocenigo, which is now part of the Danieli Hotel.

Performer Biography

James Gilchrist, a tenor on this recording, began his career as a doctor before turning to music full-time in 1996.

Compositional Technique

Monteverdi's Book 8 of madrigals introduces the genere concitato, an 'agitated' style designed to convey emotions of war, both physical and psychological.

Composition History

Monteverdi's Book 6 of madrigals, though published during his Venetian years, was planned and largely written while he was choirmaster at the court of Mantua.

Composer Biography

The sestina Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata is a lament for Caterina Martinelli, a singer who died from smallpox at 18 and for whom the title role of Monteverdi's opera Arianna was written.