Monteverdi Makes a Big Bet

By this point in Monteverdi’s life, he was living a frustrating existence under the employ of the Duke of Mantua. During this time, he made a plan to seek out a far greater position in the life of Italian Music: Maestro DiCapella at San Marco in Venice. In order to meet this ambition, Monteverdi penned his epic 1610 Vespers dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The work requires a massive collection of singers and instruments of a variety of shapes ad sizes, and stands as one of Monteverdi’s most important contributions to musical history.

The Work

The collection of singers which make up the ensemble changes nearly every movement. Some are larger works utilizing the full Double Choir arrangement (SATB 1 | SATB 2) others, beautiful duets for soloists.

The piece is incredibly nimble on its feet, relying heavily on individual instruments to pop out of textures at a moment’s notice to flourish a line into existence.

Dixit Dominus shows off Monteverdi as a Renaissance master - This movement includes a series of choral full chorus chants to begin each verse. After each recitation, the choir answers in a variety of flourishing ways. This movement shows off the incredible contrasts of the Vespers

The two most grandiose movements come in the middle of the work with two large Double-Choir movements:

Nisi Dominus traditionally ends the first half in bombastic fashion. It’s a dancing double-choir movement where Choir 1 introduces a series of verses which are repeated by Choir 2. The movement ends a huge chorus with full orchestra.

Lauda Jerusalem is one final salute to the Cantus Firmus style of the Renaissance while a glorious double-choir fantasy unfolds around the tenor who sings the original tune.