Within a discussion of Monteverdi's understanding and use of tonality, the two versions of Lamento d'Arianna are singled out as a paradigm case. Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna is the only surviving portion of the opera Arianna, written for performance in Mantua in 1608. Sometime in the ensuing years (probably around 1610), Monteverdi arranged the lament for five vocal parts, and this version appears at the opening of his sixth book of madrigals, published in Venice in 1614. A bar-by-bar comparison of the two settings reveals that the five-part version was much more than a mere transcription of the original. Although the monody can be divided quite easily into four sections as marked by the fermatas, Monteverdi expands the music considerably (and modifies the text accordingly) when reworking the lament into a four-madrigal cycle. An analysis of the reworkings notes that the madrigal more fully realizes the tonal implications inherent in the original monody.

Works: Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna (165-85).

Sources: Monteverdi: Arianna (165-85).

Index Classifications: 1600s

Contributed by: Mark S. Spicer