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Notes 60.3 (2004) 785-789


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Claudio Monteverdi. The Third Book of Madrigals for Five Voices (Apt for Voices, Viols and Recorders). Edited by Richard Charteris. (Viol Consort Series, 34.) Albany, CA: PRB Productions, c2000. [Acknowledgments, 1 p.; plates, p. iii-iv; table of contents, p. v; introd., performance suggestions, sources, editorial method, commentary, texts and trans., p. vi-xvii; suggestions for instrumentation, p. xviii; scores, 87 p.; and 7 parts (3d and 4th voices in alto and tenor-8 clefs). ISBN 1-56571-153-X; pub. no. VCO34. $24 (score); $26 (5 parts, recorder or viol clefs); $36 (7 parts, both clefs); $45 (score & 5 parts, recorder or viol clefs); $55 (score & 7 parts).]
Claudio Monteverdi. Scherzi musicali a tre voci. Introduzione di Iain Fenlon. (Bibliotheca musica Bononiensis, sec. 4, no. 80.) Bologna: Arnaldo Forni, 1998. [Introd. in Ital., Eng., p. 1-8; facsim. reprod. of 1607 ed., [49 p.]. €24.] [End Page 785]
Claudio Monteverdi. L'Orfeo: Favola in musica. Reprint des Erstdrucks der Partitur, Venedig 1609, und von Akt V des Mantuaner Librettos von 1607, mit einer Einleitung von Wolfgang Osthoff. (Documenta Musicologica, ser. 1: Druckschriften-Faksimiles, 39.) Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1998. [Einleitung, p. v-ix; Corrigenda zum Druck von 1609, p. x-xi; introd. in Eng., p. xii-xv; trans. of dedication in Ger., Eng., p. xvi; facsim. reprod. of edition, [104 p.]; facsim. reprod. of libretto, [9 p.]. ISBN 3-7618-1167-5. €39.50.]
Claudio Monteverdi. Laudate Dominum omnes gentes: Psalm 116 für zwei Soprane, sechs bis acht Stimmen und Basso continuo. Herausgegeben von Rudolf Ewerhart. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, c1996. [Pref. in Ger., Eng., 2 p.; score, p. 5-15; and basso part. ISMN M-004-21012-3; Partitur-Bibliothek Nr. 5325. €12.50.]
Claudio Monteverdi. Nisi Dominus: Psalm 126 für sechs Stimmen und Basso continuo (1650). Herausgegeben von Rudolf Ewerhart. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, c1996. [Pref. in Ger., Eng., 2 p.; score, p. 5-27; and basso part. ISMN M-004-20996-7; Partitur-Bibliothek Nr. 5322. €14.]
Claudio Monteverdi. Laurentanische Litanei für sechs Stimmen und Basso continuo. Herausgegeben von Rudolf Ewerhart. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, c1996. [Pref. in Ger., Eng., 2 p.; score, p. 4-20; and basso part. ISMN M-004-20997-4; Partitur-Bibliothek Nr. 5324. €12.50.]

Claudio Monteverdi's works have been published and republished over the years in transcriptions of differing quality, format, and methodological persuasion. The editions and facsimiles discussed in this review present music that has been available to scholars for quite some time. What we lack is a systematic and methodologically coherent assessment of the editorial problems surrounding the publication as well as the modern perception of this repertory. The still incomplete critical edition of Monteverdi's Opera omnia inaugurated by the Fondazione Claudio Monteverdi in 1970 (Cremona: Athenaeum Cremonense, as ser. 1, vol. 5, of Instituta et monumenta) promises to solve many of these problems. Meanwhile, a steady trickle of editions devoted to individual compositions has rendered the waiting somewhat less burdensome. Some of these publications offer new insights into issues of performance practice; others target a more specialized readership; and still others will probably make their readers feel a bit shortchanged.

Published as volume 34 in a series devoted to compositions and transcriptions for viol consort issued by PRB Productions, Richard Charteris's edition of the third book of madrigals (Venice: Ricciardo Amadino, 1592) advocates the revival of a purely instrumental performance of Monteverdi's vocal polyphony. The rationale behind this interpretation is a chapter in the reception history of Italian music in England around the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth. The popularity of Monteverdi's madrigals in England is attested by their frequent inclusion in both printed...

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