Winds, cupids, little zephyrs and sirens: Monteverdi and Le nozze di Tetide (1616-1617)
2011; Oxford University Press; Volume: 39; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/em/car081
ISSN1741-7260
Autores Tópico(s)Theater, Performance, and Music History
ResumoClaudio Monteverdi was adamant: ’How, dear Sir, can I imitate the speech of the winds, if they do not speak?’ This is one of the more famous remarks in his letters, often used as evidence of the composer’s clear view of the kind of poetry he needed in order to produce successful musical drama.1 In early December 1616, Alessandro Striggio, one of Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga’s councillors, sought Monteverdi’s opinion on a theatrical text to be set to music, Le nozze di Tetide, a favola marittima by the young Mantuan courtier, Scipione Agnelli; this was contained in a ‘little book’ (librettino) sent by Striggio to the composer in Venice.2 It was one of three entertainments originally proposed for the upcoming festivities in Mantua for the entry of Caterina de’ Medici as the new duchess following her marriage (in Florence) to Duke Ferdinando: the others were Francesco Rasi’s Ati e Cibele and the duke’s own Endimione. In a long response (9 December 1616), Monteverdi outlines what he perceives as the libretto’s fundamental flaws: its maritime subject matter requiring the singers and instrumentalists to be placed towards the rear of the stage and therefore difficult to hear; the use forced by the characters (Tritons and other sea gods) of wind instruments instead of more delicate stringed ones; the predominance of winds, cupids, little zephyrs and sirens requiring many sopranos; the fact that the dances did not have the proper poetic metres; and the complexity and lack of direction of the drama. ‘Arianna led me to a just lament, and Orfeo to a righteous prayer, but this fable leads me I don’t know to what end. So what does Your Most Illustrious Lordship want the music to do?’
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