Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)

Claudio Monteverdi acquired a mastery of composition at an early age. When he was 15 years old, a collection of his three-part motets were published in Venice. In the early 1600s, Monteverdi turned his attention to opera. His first opera Orfeo (1607) is distinguished by Monteverdi's flexible use of mostra altro music to advance and to comment on the dramatic action. His genius was in the way in which he expressed human emotion in moving melodies. One biographer has termed Monteverdi "the creator of modern music." He is credited with establishing the foundations of modern opera as drama in music. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno