Concerto and Its Transformation in Claudio Monteverdi’s Madrigals

Abstract

Issues of style, comparisons of approaches of different composers to the genre, and particular atmosphere of Mantua lie in the core of numerous studies of Monteverdi’s madrigals. At the same time, the appearance of concerto in the madrigal and changesin its interpretation during the first half of the seventeenth century are among the less studied aspects. This determines the main aim of the article: to analyze the formation of the modern understanding of a concerto in Monteverdi’s madrigals. Modification of the meaning of a concerto was a prolonged process. It took almost one hundred and fifty years to change the understanding of concert: fromsimple acknowledgement of integration of vocal and instrumental lines are combined with an accent on solo and up to the contrastingof two groups which differ in their technical and emotional complexity. The strengthening of the role of the concerto principle in madrigals and modifications of its meaning are connected both with the desire to most accurately convey the mood of the poems in music, and with the consequent need for the new timbre combinations and depth of contrasts. As the expressiveness of the solo augments, in particular due to the growth of virtuosity and, as a consequence, a brighter setting off against other performers and/or instruments, the modern understanding of a concerto develops. A concerto becomes an innovative way to personify musical material and to bring a touch of rivalry into the madrigal thanks to the contrasts on different levels. The ancient foundation of the madrigal does not impose limitations on the creative imagination of the composer but constitute the basis for a renewed genre that reflects the beginning of a new musical era.