Monteverdi

This hour on Harmonia, we explore the madrigals of Monteverdi from his earliest collections in the 1590s to his innovative “Madrigals of War and Love” – over 40 years of madrigals! Along the way we will experience the extremes of human emotions, from the heights of joy to the depths of despair.

Claudio Monteverdi’s long career spanned a period marked by big changes to the Italian musical landscape: transitions between Renaissance and Baroque aesthetics, the rise of the violin family, and the establishment of public opera, to name a few. Join Harmonia on a sonic journey through some of the musical places and spaces he inhabited.

Add the Dark Horse Consort and the Chant Schola to the Green Mountain Project (in Italian, “green mountain” easily translates to “monte verdi” - just saying); gather in the Church of St. Jean Baptiste in New York City on January 3, 2019; stir well; and perform the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. I wonder whether this is the first performance that uses all female cornetto players…

The 8th century hymn Ave maris stella--Hail! Star of the Sea--is one of the best-known examples of Marian chant, and we’ll hear some captivating settings of it this hour.