Combatimento Di Tancredi E Clorinda
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''Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda'' (''The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda''), SV 153, is an operatic ''scena'' for three voices by Claudio Monteverdi. The libretto is drawn from Torquato Tasso's ''
La Gerusalemme Liberata ''Jerusalem Delivered'', also known as ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'' ( it, La Gerusalemme liberata ; ), is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade i ...
''. It was first performed in Venice in 1624, and printed in 1638 in Monteverdi's eighth book of
madrigals A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...
. Monteverdi used musical features here for the first time to enhance the dramatic depiction of a battle in stile concitato, such as
pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowe ...
and tremolo.


History

The libretto is drawn from Torquato Tasso's ''
La Gerusalemme Liberata ''Jerusalem Delivered'', also known as ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'' ( it, La Gerusalemme liberata ; ), is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade i ...
'' (''Jerusalem Delivered'')., Canto XII, 52–62, 64–68), a
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
set against the backdrop of the
First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
, when
Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...
conquered
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Monteverdi composed it for the 1624 carnival season in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
when it was first performed in the palace of Girolamo Mocenigo. The plot is about a Christian knight, Tancredi, and a Saracen girl, Clorinda, who are lovers, but meet in battle not recognizing each other because their faces are covered by armour. Tancredi hits Clorinda mortally, and realizes only after removing her helmet who she is. He baptizes her before she dies, and she sees Heaven opening. A narrator (''testo'') tells about most of the action, but the combatants should also act. ''Il Combattimento'' was printed in 1638, with several other pieces in Monteverdi's eighth book of
madrigals A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...
which were written over a period of many years.


Music

In ''Il Combattimento'', the voices and instruments form two separate entities. The strings are divided into four parts instead of the then usual five – an innovation that was not generally adopted by European composers until much later. The music begins with madrigals. Monteverdi tried to created the "agitated" style (''concitato'') which Plato described in his ''Rhetoric'': "Take that harmony that would fittingly imitate the utterances of a brave man who is engaged in warfare". Different sounds convey the battle, such as the trotting of a horse, trumpet fanfares, the combatants circling each other, and the movement of their swords. For the latter, the music has the earliest known use of
pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowe ...
, in which the players are instructed to set down their bows and use two fingers of their right hand to pluck the strings. To illustrate excitement, he arrived at the earliest use of string tremolo, in which a note is played in fast repetition. Monteverdi had difficulties getting the players to perform it correctly.


References


Further reading

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External links

*
Libretto of ''Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda''
opera.stanford.edu
Monteverdi's ''Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda''
operakey.com 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Combattimento Di Tancredi E Clorinda, Il Compositions by Claudio Monteverdi Operas based on works by Torquato Tasso 1624 operas Operas Cultural depictions of Godfrey of Bouillon