Zwei Stücke aus Claudio Monteverdis 6. Madrigalbuch in handschriftlichen Frühfassungen

Abstract

Handwritten examples of Presso un fiume tranquillo and Misero Alceo, two madrigals from Monteverdi's sixth madrigal book, are preserved in the university library in Kassel (D-Ku). They originally belonged to the court musician Georg Schimmelpfennig, a member of the circle of musicians around Schütz in Kassel. There are some significant differences between the handwritten versions of the two madrigals and the printed edition. Schütz probably brought these early versions to Kassel in 1612 after returning from his study visit to Venice. The manuscripts give musicologists the chance to study Monteverdi's corrections to the early versions of the madrigals, a procedure previously known secondhand from verbal evidence.