What is Claudio Monteverdi?
[[File:Claudio Monteverdi.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640]] '''Claudio Monteverdi''' (b.Cremona, 1567; d.[[Venice]] 25 November 1643) was the most important composer of the early [[Baroque music|Baroque]] period. He lived at a time of great change in musical style. The first [[opera]] ever written was composed in 1597 by a composer named Jacopo Peri. Just eleven years later Monteverdi wrote an opera ''Orfeo'' which was a really great work. Other important operas of his are ''Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda'' and ''Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria''. He wrote 9 books of [[madrigal]]s. He also wrote a lot of church music including the ''1610 Vespers''. He was director of music at St Mark’s, Venice, which was the most important musical job in [[Italy]]. ==Early life in Cremona== Monteverdi was the son of an [[apothecary]] and a [[Medical doctor|doctor]]. He was very talented as a young boy and was only 15 when he published his first pieces of music. In the introduction to this music he says that his music teacher was Marc’ Antonio Ingegneri, the [[maestro di cappella]] of [[Cremona]] cathedral. We cannot find anything that shows that he sang in the cathedral choir. He probably had private music lessons. He learned [[Composition (music)|composition]], [[singing]] and how to play [[string instrument]]s such as the [[viol]] and [[viola da braccio]]. He got several compositions published in [[Venice]]. By the time he got his first job he had already published two books of [[madrigal]]s. ==Mantua== His first job was working at the [[court]] of the Duke of Mantua. In Mantua there was a small band of excellent musicians. The musical director was the famous [[Giaches de Wert]]. Monteverdi got to know many famous [[poet]]s, and there were famous singers at [[Ferrara]] which was not far away. At first Monteverdi had a low-paid job. He married the daughter of one of the court musicians in the string band. Monteverdi soon became well-known. He sent several of his compositions to be performed a