Monteverdi: Vespro della beata vergine

Featuring

René Jacobs
Barbara Borden
María Cristina Kiehr
Andreas Scholl
John Bowen
Andrew Murgatroyd

Victor Torres
Antonio Abete
Jelle Draijer
Concerto Vocale
Nederlands Kamerkoor
Claudio Monteverdi

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Claudio Monteverdi's music, both secular and sacred, reflects a profound shift in mentality at the end of the Renaissance, moving from a symbolic view of the universe to an exploration of earthly reality and human emotions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Monteverdi's 'gentle revolution' in the Vespers involved renewing traditional compositional techniques, blending secular and liturgical forms, and intensifying the expressive power of sacred texts through all available musical means.

Interpretation

The score of the Vespers, despite its precision for the era, presents several 'insoluble enigmas' for modern musicologists and performers, such as the exact vocal distribution and the implications of 'chiavette' clefs for transposition.

Composition History

The publication of Monteverdi's 1610 collection, which includes the Vespers, was driven by personal and possibly political interests, as he sought financial stability and a new position by dedicating it to Pope Paul V.

Compositional Technique

Monteverdi incorporated modern secular forms into the sacred Vespers, such as the opening 'Deus ad adjuvandum' which parodies the Toccata from his first opera, L'Orfeo.

Compositional Technique

The Vespro della Beata Vergine showcases Monteverdi's ability to fuse the 'prima prattica' (old style of learned contrapuntal polyphony) and 'seconda prattica' (new style focused on expressing passions).