Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 39 Musical Offerings 12, no. 2 (2021): 39–50 ISSN 2330-8206 (print); ISSN 2167-3799 (online) © 2021, Allison Zieg, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) The Rise of Opera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo Allison Zieg Cedarville University hroughout the Renaissance, there emerged a desire to better understand humanity through a philosophy that came to be known as humanism.1 Renaissance scholars reflected on the ancient Greek and Roman lifestyle with the help of newly discovered writings.2 Their aim was to use past philosophy and perspectives to help better understand and grow human potential. The philosophy of humanism is applied to practically every practice during the Renaissance period, such as the sciences, literature, and music. The ancient perspectives of great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and the like were not seen as outdated and irrelevant, but rather notable ideas that were crucial to the development of music, specifically during the Renaissance. Throughout this musical development began the rise of opera. While there were several key composers that led in the creation of opera such as Jacopo Peri, Claudio Monteverdi received praise as the first major opera composer, having three major operas that have survived to this day.3 These humanistic ideals and Greco-Roman philosophies are the grounding for his compositions. Opera historian Mark Ringer explains, “Monteverdi’s music speaks to us with unparalleled directness. He found the means for the first comprehensive portrayal of the human subject in music. He taught humanity what we look and sound like on the operatic stage.”4 Without the revival of ancient Greco-Roman ideas and the desire to learn more about human thought and emotion, opera may have never emerged. New Renaissance musical qualities combined with humanism 1 Burkholder, 139. 2 Burkholder, 138. 3 Ringer, ix. 4 Ringer, x. T
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