Lettera Amorosa a voce sola in genere rappresentativo – Se i languidi miei sguardi

The
publication of Monteverdi’s Seventh
book of Madrigals in
1619 signified the beginning of the monodic revolution and the
renunciation of the Renaissance ideal of the 5-part madrigal in
favour of a more varied and modern style of song-writing. In true
Baroque spirit, Monteverdi gave the book the title Concerto,
keeping in the fashion of wanting to show that this work contained
something new and exciting. Despite the deprivation of a scenic
context, Monteverdi manages to evoke a real sense of drama in his
Lettera Amorosa.
It is written in
genere rappresentativo,
calling for a declamatory style that avoids all rhythmic rigidity,
something which was still quite new to audiences in the early 17th
century, and certainly had never been experimented with to such an
extent outside the safe haven of the courtly opera world. In an
outpouring of emotion, Lettera
Amorosa, the
faithful messenger of affection,
expresses all the
sentiments of loving from afar… bleeding hearts, beauty, fire,
golden rain…the ramblings of a soul lost in the labyrinth of love.