Revolutionaries actively participate or advocate change in politics, science, invention or art. Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was regarded as a revolutionary by his contemporaries, bringing about a transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. Working at a time when it was usual for composers to create works on demand for special occasions, La favola d'Orfeo (1607) was written for the annual carnival of Mantua. As well as being characterised by its dramatic power, it was one of the first examples of a composer assigning specific instruments to parts in operas. It presented a new style of music, the dramma per musica or opera seria. L'Arianna (1607) was his second opera. It is considered as one of the most influential and famous specimens of early baroque and is based on the ancient Greek legend of Ariadne and Theseus. The Lamento d'Arianna is one of its most famous madrigals.Contemporary Italian composers of Monteverdi are much less known today. They include Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Alessandro Scarlatti and Luigi Rossi. Meanwhile, in Germany, Heinrich Schütz was renowned for his work, Der Pastoral-Tragikomedie von der Dafne (1627). England enjoyed a ballad type opera, or "Masque". English composers include Matthew Locke, John Blow and Henry Purcell.
Jean-Baptiste Lully was a French composer of Italian birth who spent most of his life at the court of Louis XIV. Lully is attributed to having invented the "tragédie lyrique". Like many early operas, these narratives are usually based on stories from classical mythology, and yet, despite the term, they do not always have a tragic ending. Lully's works include Alceste (1674), Thésée (1675) and Armide (1686). It is especially in these last two operas that many dance movements can be found.
Before joining the court of the Sun King, however, Lully was engaged to write music for Molière's theatre company. It was Marc-Antoine Charpentier who assumed this post on his departure. This prolific and versatile composer was especially recognised for his sacred vocal music. Acteón (1683 - 85), Les Arts Florissants (1685 - 86) and Medée (1693) are but three of his operas. This last work was specifically written for the Académie Royale de Musique.
Meanwhile, across the Pyrenees, the zarzuela was becoming popular. This Spanish lyric-dramatic genre incorporates operatic and popular songs as well as dance. In 1657 at the Royal Palace of El Pardo, King Philip IV of Spain, Queen Mariana and their court attended the first performance of a new comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, with music by Juan de Hidalgo. The genre was named after the Palacio de la Zarzuela, one of the King's hunting lodges, situated in a remote countryside thick with "zarzas" or brambles, in what is now El Pardo. The characters in these early, baroque zarzuelas were a mixture of gods, mythological creatures and rustic or pastoral comedy characters. Unlike some other operatic forms, there were spoken interludes, often in verse.
Sources:
Delgado Cabrera, A. El Siglo XVII. Iniciacion a la Ópera. 2008-2009. Talleres y Cursos Culturales. ULPGC.
http://www.musica.co.uk/composers/Monteverdi.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Lully#Music
Sources:
Delgado Cabrera, A. El Siglo XVII. Iniciacion a la Ópera. 2008-2009. Talleres y Cursos Culturales. ULPGC.
http://www.musica.co.uk/composers/Monteverdi.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Lully#Music
Image: Orpheus and Eurydice by Edmund Dulac.
