Chapter 11: Emilio de' Cavalieri

The History of Essential Music, Chapter 11: Emilio de' Cavalieri - Lamentationes Hieremiae prophetae

The year is 1599. Elizabeth I is near the end of her reign, the Globe Theater, a theater associated with Shakespeare opens and Emilio de’ Cavalieri writes his version of the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

Year: 1599
Composer: Emilio de' Cavalieri
Album: Cavalieri: Lamentations
Performer: Le Poème Harmonique & Vincent Dumestre
Genre: Renaissance Music

Emilio de' Cavalieri (1550-1602): An influential Italian and innovative composer, he is considered to be the inventor of monody, replacing the polyphonic style with singing closer to human expression. As such, the Lamentations, one of his last works, is probably the most original sacred composition of the late sixteenth century.

Le Poème Harmonique: Its founder, Vincent Dumestre, is the driving force behind the French ensemble Le Poème Harmonique, which has performed 17th and 18th-century music since 1998.

Vincent Dumestre: Vincent Dumestre studied classical guitar at the École Normale de Musique in Paris and art history at the École du Louvre. He then devoted himself to music for theorbo, baroque guitar and lute.

Monody: A monody refers to a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment. Although such music is found in various cultures throughout history, the term is specifically applied to Italian song of the early 17th century.

Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae - Prima die Lectio prima: You can listen to the first 10 videos of this link, which is the first part of the lamentations, Prima die Lectio prima.

New song of the day

Artist: Ultar
Album: At the Gates of Dusk
Song: Evening Star
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Blackgaze

Ultar is a blackgaze band from Krasnoyarsk, Russia. They just released their fourth album, At the Gates of Dusk.