‘The aim of all good music,’ Monteverdi wrote, ‘is to affect the soul.’
In the 1590s, Monteverdi was employed as a string player (viol) by the Duke of Mantua. Here Monteverdi came into contact with some of the finest musicians of that era. His compositional style changed, with angular melodies, harmonic dissonances, and music of great intensity. One prime trait of his new style of writing was for the music to follow- to paint- the meaning of the verse in great detail with the harmonies and interplay of the voices.
These aspects can be seen in Era l’anima mia, from Monteverdi’s 5th book of madrigals (1605).
Note by Robert Hollingworth (director of I Fagiolini):
"Monteverdi embodied emotion through his combination of naturalistic delivery of the text, twisting harmonies to paint the subject’s emotional state, and an unparalleled acoustic awareness of how to lay out the notes to speak with maximum aural effect."
-Charles Jacot
A very fine performance of this lovely 4 minute piece is available on YouTube, here:
Translation of the text:
Stood the Virgin Mary in saddest pain
languishing by the cross, and cried bitterly.
Thus proffered her mouth these words:
"Who nailed you to such cruel wood?
Who takes my life away from me?
My son, Jesus Christ:
languishes, weary,
and melts away in tears of love
my pained soul, and I grow weak,
and, of this pain, I die !"
