Monteverdi, Claudio : Canzonettas

Claudio Monteverdi’s Canzonets of 1584, show a hitherto little known aspect of the master, namely as the creator of lesser works of art, if one may so call them, which are in no way inferior to his greater works, the music dramas and madrigals, in ingenuity and in importance within the framework of his whole output. The Canzonets of 1584 belong to his earliest period, dating from the time of his years of study with Marc Antonio Ingegnieri. However, they already bear witness of a high degree of mastery of invention and form.