Monteverdi Opera Excerpts from ​L’Arianna​ and ​L’Incoronazione di Poppea

By: Morgan Marshaus

It is recorded in a letter dated 1633 that Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi considered

his ​Lament of Arianna​, which was one of his earliest successes, his most important composition
1
of his career.​ Then later, his ​Lament of Ottavia​ premiered within a couple of months of

Monteverdi’s death, making the entire opera ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea h​ is last great
2
achievement. Both of these compositions are huge milestones in Monteverdi’s musical life. This

paper is going to begin with some history of the lament and of Monteverdi before talking about

his compositions ​Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna a​ nd ​Addio Roma​ from ​L’ Incoronazione di

Poppea​. While talking about each of these compositions, I will address the history of purpose of

the lament within Opera, the story of the operas that these pieces are set in, and score analysis.

At the end, I will discuss some of the similarities and differences between these two pieces.

The lament throughout history has consisted of people crying out in pain: the pain of a

mother losing a son to war, pain of a bride transitioning from the family she grew up in to a new

and unknown life, pain from death, and pain for lost love. These are all topics of anguish that

have been expressed through the emotional turmoil that characters in opera so often face. Actors

have a way of being able to project a whole new world to an audience in a matter of hours. The

lament was one of the key ways productions were able to move an audience to tears within a

matter of minutes. People go to see shows in order to feel something. They want to experience

1
​Ringer, Mark. ​Opera’s First Master: The Musical Dramas of Claudio Monteverdi​. Pompton
Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2006. Page 94-95.
2
Ringer, “​Opera’s First Master​,” 136.
something new. By using these songs of yearning, the lament reached audiences in a way that

was relatable even if the story was not.

Claudio Monteverdi was an Italian composer who had to “seek to represent the pains of
3
love.” He was born in Cremona, Italy in May of 1567 and he died in Venice in November of

1643. In the late 16​th​ to early 17​th​ centuries, he was considered the most important musician.
4
Even though he wrote nine different madrigal books, he composed every style of music. When

talking about Monteverdi’s compositions, his competitor Gagliano once said, “Signor

Monteverdi, the most famous musician,… composed the arias in so exquisite a manor that we

can affirm in all truth that the power of ancient music has been restored because they visibly

moved the whole audience to tears.”

The lament is a “vocal expression of grief.” Because everyone grieves in different ways,

the lament is very open to interpretation. It can use styles and techniques such as falsetto voice,
5
different forms of vibrato, sighing, and even crying on stage.​ It is a matter of finding balance
6
between recitative and aria in order to create something unique to the character. This is where

Monteverdi’s compositions of both ​Addio Roma​ from ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea​ and

Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna​ were so well received, even from his competitors like

Gagliano.

3
​Carter, Tim. ​Monteverdi and his Contemporaries​. Burlington, VT Ashgate, 2000.
Page VIII 133.
4
​Carter, Tim, and Goeffrey Chew. “Monteverdi, Claudio.” In ​Grove Music Online​. Accessed 7
October 2015. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.
5
​Porter, James. “Lament.” The ​Grove Music Online​. Accessed 7 October 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.
6
​Carter, “​Monteverdi and his Contemporaries,​” XI 2.
 7
L’ Arianna ​premiered in Mantua at the Ducal Palace on May 28, 1608. Its lament was

one of the key moments that truly launched Monteverdi’s career. James Porter wrote,

“Sometimes the lamenter praises the departed calling attention to their beauty or strength of
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character, or adopts an accusatory tone, bewailing their abandonment of those who live on.”

This is certainly the theme behind the emotion that Arianna is feeling during​ Lasciatemi Morire​.

In the story of ​L’ Arianna,​ Arianna’s lover is a man named Teseo. Teseo is about to go on

a journey to kill a beast called the Minotaur. A Minotaur, according to Greek mythology, is a

creature with the body of a man and with the head of a bull. Teseo tells Arianna that if she comes

with him to help him, they will get married. But, Teseo soon abandons Arianna instead of

keeping his promise. Arianna is left with no one and finds herself weeping in her own grief and

despair over her lost love. In the lament ​Lasciatemi Morire, i​ s where Arianna is pouring out her
9
broken heart in anguish.

This lament in ​L’ Arianna​ is through composed and is filled with text painting and

speech-like rhythms. It begins with and instrumental introduction featuring minor arpeggios in

thirds. Between the instrumental intro and the start of the vocal part, it shows a great deal of

chromaticism and dissonance. The very first line of text is “Lasciatemi morire” meaning “Let me

die.” Arianna is pleading to the Greek god Bacchus. He has found Arianna weeping and instantly

falls in love with her. He asks her to marry him so that way he can help her with her pain. That is
10
when she responds with the words, “Lasciatemi morire.” These words, “Let me die,” are not

7
Carter and Geoffrey Chew, “​Monteverdi​,” Works 1.
8
Porter, “Lament,” 1.
9
​Higgins, Vaughan. “Il lament d’Arianna: “Lasciatemi Morire” (Ariadne’s Complaint: “Let Me
Die”).” In ​Recalling Ariadne​. 1-2. Chamber Singers of Harverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges.
2011. Page 1
10
Higgins, “​Arianna,​ ” 2.
only sung once but twice in order to emphasize the pain that Arianna is feeling. Monteverdi also

uses text painting in the word die by giving ‘die’ a low D, which is the lowest note used in the

entire piece [Musical Example 1].

The tempo then subtly increases into speech like rhythms. At measure 13, Monteverdi

stretches out the word ‘great’ to emphasize the text “In così gran martire” meaning “in this great

suffering.” The speech like rhythm slows back down from pick-ups to 15 till 21 where Arianna

says “Lasciatemi morire,” “Let me die,” two more times. As she sings these words, the tempo

gets slower and slower till the last ‘let me die’. On the final word ‘die’, it is the same low D as

the low note in measure 6 or as in Musical Example 1.

After this whole wildly dramatic opening about how Arianna wants to die, Monteverdi

sends the piece into a new musical idea. In measure 22, Arianna cries out, calling to her beloved

Teseo, “O Teseo O Teseo mio” meaning “Oh Teseo, oh my Teseo [Musical Example 2].” This is

one of the biggest reoccurring motives in the entire piece. Monteverdi does this in order to

represent her shouting out for her love in anguish. From here it continues into a pretty

comfortably paced speech like rhythm in order to change in measures 26-28 into a faster speed.

The text becomes more emotional in measures 28-32 when Arianna tells Teseo to, “turn back,”

three times. “Volgiti Teseo mio, volgiti teseo, o dio, volgiti indietro a rimirar colei” translates to

“Turn back my Teseo, turn back, oh god, turn back again to gaze on her.” The music during

these lyrics builds intensity each time she pleads for Teseo to come back to her. The third time

she cries out is the highest note in song so far which is a high E [Musical Example 3].

After the high E in measure 30, there is a long span of speech like rhythms that gets

interrupted at measure 37. This interruption is where Arianna calls out again for Teseo just like
in Musical Example 2. Arianna only cries out for a moment before going back into more speech

like rhythms. In measure 40, Monteverdi merges some text painting with the speech like

rhythms, blending the two together. The text is, “Se tu sapessi oi me comes’ affanna la povera

Arianna,” translating to, “If only you knew how breathless from fear Arianna is.” On the word

‘knew,’ Monteverdi emphasized the word by having it sung on a high E. This is the same note as

when Arianna was calling for Teseo to turn back in Musical Example 3.

In measures 46-48, there is a brief but great example of text painting. A happier melody

is introduced while Arianna is talking about Teseo’s happiness. This joyful melodic line turns to

a minor sound when she then starts talking about her own weeping. In 56, another mild theme is

introduced when Arianna calls out to parents because she will never see them again. From there,

the mood of the piece becomes harsher when she starts angrily asking questions such as, “Dov’è

la fede che tanto mi giurave?” meaning, “Where is the faith that you swore to me so often?” and

questions like, “Lasciarmi in abbandono A fera che mistrazi e mi divori?” translating to, “(Are

you) To leave me, forsaken, to let the beasts tear and devour me?” There is more power behind

Arianna’s voice as she lingers on one note during the duration of her questions. This is where

Monteverdi creates a recitative like style in order to give the audience the impression that she is

screaming at Teseo. When she asks in measures 66-68, “(Are you) To leave me, forsaken, to let

the beasts tear and devour me?” the melodic line goes from the highest note in piece, a high E, to

one of the lowest in a scalular motion. This piece of text painting is to show how far Arianna’s

spirit has fallen [Musical Example 4].

Returned to a fully aria sounding style, Arianna calls out twice to Teseo in measure 69,

just like in Musical Example 2. This is the third time she has cried out his name using this theme,
only this time, the direction of her cries leads to a slow, haunting tone as she sings, “Lascierai tu

morire?” meaning, “Will you leave me to die?” Measure 71 throws the texture of the piece back

into speech like rhythms. During these speech like rhythms, she asks more questions until she

starts to get discouraged by the fact that Teseo is not answering her.

Monteverdi must have truly understood the phrase, “There is nothing like a woman

scorned.” From measures 80-83, Arianna gets angry and mad. As her temper rises, the speech

like rhythms and the tempo increase to a high intensity. The notes go higher in pitch as she

rapidly starts spitting out the lyrics, “O nembi, o turbi, o venti sommergetelo vio dentr’a

quell’onde, correte orche e balene! E delle membra immonde empiete le voragini profonde!”

This translates to, “Oh clouds, oh storms, oh winds bury him beneath those waves, whales and

sea monsters! Quickly fill your deep whirlpools with his soiled body!” She wishes him dead! She

is so hurt by what he did to her that she wants the ocean to swallow him whole.

The music then abruptly comes to a few seconds of silence; almost as though Arianna is

taking a breath to calm down. From measures 84- 86, her pace slows down and her notes drop in

pitch just as if she were lowering her voice in the middle of an argument. She takes back all of

the horrible things she said because she knows deep down that she truly loves Teseo. As the

same theme returns from Musical Example 2, she calls out for a fourth time yearning for her

Teseo from 87-89. In her apologies, she says, “Parlò la lingua si ma non giàil core,” in measure

93- 94 meaning, “My tongue spoke but not my heart.” The word ‘heart’ is sung on the lowest

note of piece, a low D. This is the same note as the word ‘die’ at beginning of Arianna’s lament.

Arianna starts getting frustrated with herself for feeling too much in measure 95. This

irritation leads to her calling out to her parents again in measure 99 just as she had in measure 56.
Only this time, she does not stop by only calling for her family. From 101- 106, she is calling for

everyone who hears her to look upon her fate. She cries, “Mirate ove m’ha scort’ empia

fortunna! mirate diche duol m’ha fatto herede,” which is, “Look where a pitiless destiny brought

me! Look what sorrow has been laid upon me!” ‘Sorrow’ is sung on the highest note in the piece,

a high E. This note was sung before in Musical Examples 3 and 4. In the last few measures of the

piece, there is a downwards-descending scale like motion from the upper register all the way to a

low D. This is the same as the word ‘die’ at beginning. The same scalular decent is the same

concept as measures 66-68, which is Musical Example 4. After all of the dramatic singing and

emotional outbursts this piece holds, the final line of text is the closest that Arianna comes to

accepting her destiny. She quietly sings as if she is telling herself, “Così va chi tropp’a ma e

troppo crede.” This means, “So it goes for one who loves too much [Musical Example 5].”

Throughout this entire piece, Arianna is torn between the pain she feels for losing Teseo

and for taking comfort in the fact that Bacchus is there for her when she really needed someone.

Because of the kindness that the Greek god Bacchus shows her, after the lament is over, Arianna

eventually does go with Bacchus and gives him and the possibility of new love a chance.

Because he is a god, he creates for Arianna a crown made of a constellation of stars, so that way
11
everyone who looks into the night sky will see the beauty that he sees in her.

In ​L’ Arianna​, everyone ends up happy in the end; but, that is not always the case in

every story. In the opera of ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea, t​ here is an emperor named Nero who is

in love with his mistress Poppea. Nero tells Poppea that the reason why they can not become

public with their love is because he is already married to the empress Ottavia. It would not be

11
Higgins, “​Arianna”​ 2.
appropriate for everyone to know about their affair until after he divorces his wife. Ottavia

knows about the affair and she wants revenge on Poppea for destroying her marriage to Nero.

She turns to a lord named Ottone or Otto to help her in killing Poppea for what she has done.

Even though he originally agrees to do it, he finds he can not bring himself to do harm to

Poppea. When Ottavia gets angry with him for not doing what he said he would, Otto then

borrows some women’s clothing from a lady named Drusilla to disguise himself when he goes to

kill Poppea. When the murder attempt occurs, Poppea is then protected by Cupid’s hand. When

questioned about the attack, Drusilla pleads guilty in order to protect Otto. With Otto not willing

to allow Drusilla to sacrifice herself, Otto tells about how Ottavia was the one who wanted

Poppea dead. Ottavia is then banished by her husband into exile, leaving Nero to wed his

mistress Poppea. Ottavia sings the song ​Addio Roma​ as she is boarding a ship that will take her
12
away from her love Nero and her home forever.
13
L’ Incoronazione di Poppea p​ remiered in Venice at the SS Giovanni e Paolo.

Just like in Arianna’s lament, it is through composed with text painting and speech like rhythms.

It begins with the instruments playing only one note in measure 1. This is probably so that way

the singer has a pitch to go off of for the piece instead of relying on perfect pitch. When Ottavia

comes in, her entrance is almost like a stutter. She sings the syllable ‘A’ three times on the same

note with rests in between as if she is struggling to be able to say the things she wants to say. As

a listener to the piece, one must keep in mind that at this point in the story of ​L’ Incoronazione di

Poppea​, Ottavia is an empress who is being cast away on a ship because her husband fell in love

12
​Rosand, Ellen. “Incoronazione di Poppea, L’.” In ​New Grove Dictionary of Opera.​ Accessed 7
October, 2015. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.
13
Carter and Geoffrey Chew, “​Monteverdi​,” Works 2.
with Poppea. Ottavia is so hurt and devastated that anyone would have a hard time processing

what was happening. As she begins to sing ‘A’, she really uses the silences to her advantage in

measures 2-3 to prove how emotional she is over what is happening. It is as if she needs those

pauses to recompose herself so she can speak. She stammers an ‘A’ 3 times before starting to

really sing. All the way from measures 2-7, she seems to get stuck on the ‘A’ before each line.

“A A A A Dio roma… A A A Dio patria… A A mici amici… A Dio.” This translates to,

“Farewell Rome… Farewell fatherland… Farewell friends farewell.” All the ‘A’s are to show

how hard it must be for the character to say goodbye to everything she knows [Musical Example

6].

Measure 9 is the start of many speech like rhythms. “Innocente, davoi partir conviene”

she says, meaning, “Innocent, I am required to leave you.” Monteverdi makes his speech like

rhythms hover over one note, not moving very often or huge interval distances. This creates a

recitative style very similar to the recitative style that is being used in ​Arianna’s lament​ after

Musical Example 3, measure 31.

In measures 14-15, Ottavia continues to sing, “Navigo disprerata, disperata i sordi mari,”

meaning, “I sail desperate, desperate in deaf seas.” The melodic phrase builds with more

intensity as it leads into a high E. Monteverdi does this in order to create text painting. Within

the lyrics, “I sail desperate,” it is on the word, ‘desperate’ that the high E rings out. Ottavia

continues with the words, “In deaf seas,” which are sung on low notes. After those low notes

fade out, Monteverdi puts in a full measure of rest in measure 17. This allows the mood to

change from one musical theme to the next.

 A happier melodic line comes in after the full measure of rest. The text is about the parts

of her homeland that make it feel like home. It is about the things she loves about being there and

what she is going to miss. She is soaking in her atmosphere fondly so that way she can remember

them after she is forced to leave. In measures 24- 26, dissonance creates a much darker feeling as

she sings, “Et io starò soling,” translating to, “I will stand alone.” She talks about what she will

do in her life of solitude and in measures 29-31. She shares the idea of, “teaching pity to tree

trunks and to rocks,” which is said with the words, “insegnando pietade ai freddi sassi.” Her

articulation and attack on the words ‘trunks’ and ‘rocks’ is very harsh and hard. You can hear

how bitter her character is about the situation in voice inflection.

There is nearly a whole measure of rest just before she franticly starts to call out to her

servant in measure 32. As the tempo picks up and the intensity builds, she eventually goes for the

note high E. This whole section at 32 could easily be compared to when Arianna was calling out

for Teseo to turn back in Musical Example 3. The use of rests between each call and the build to

the high E is very similar in structure and the overall shape in phrasing. Measure 34 is the

highest note in the piece this far. Ottavia is singing, “Allontanarmi, Allontanarmi,” meaning,

“Get away, get away.” This is also very similar to Example 3 only this time it builds to a high F

instead of a high E. After singing, “Get away, get away,” Monteverdi puts in a beat of rest before

she starts stuttering “Da… Da…” in the same style as she sang the syllable ‘A’ at the beginning

of the piece. It is as though she got herself so worked up that she once again can not control her

words. Once she groups herself she sings, “Dagliamati lidi,” which means, “From the beloved

shores.” So, from the very beginning, she meant to say, “Get away from the beloved shores,” but,

midsentence she had to stop and stammer, so, it interrupted the phrase. Monteverdi does this in
order to show how much this once great and powerful empress is falling apart [Musical Example

7].

“Ahi, ahi” she exclaims in measure 36 meaning, “Ouch, Ouch,” only she is not in

physical pain. This is just referring to how much pain she is in because of the situation. Measure

37 starts off with the highest note of the entire piece. This high G is sung on the third, “Ahi,”

sung in a row. The only difference is that this, “Ahi,” continues into the words, “Sacrilege

duolo,” which means, “Sacrilegious morning.” She is cursing the morning because it is such a

horrible day in her eyes. She is losing everything because she is being forced to leave. Measure

38 starts off with another high G as Ottavia sings, “tu tum’ interdiciil pianto quando lascio la

patria.” This means, “You said you cried when I left home.” This line is directed to Nero as he is

starring at her departure. She immediately repeats the high G and the lyrics, “You said you cried

when I left home.” Each time she sings the high G, the melodic line descends form that note,

falling downward in melodic motion. This form of text painting accents the word ‘you’ in these

few lines. It proves how much she blames her husband for abandoning her and banishing her.

The intensity starts to increase in measure 42 when the overall direction of the notes

starts ascending towards a high F in measure 47. The lyrics during this build are, “Ne stillar una

lacrima poss’io mentre dico ai parenti, e a Roma” meaning, “In stilling a tear as I say to my

relatives in Roma.” Monteverdi puts a rest in before the words ‘in Roma’ in order to help build

the anticipation. In order to keep building in suspense and intensity, Monteverdi makes Ottavia

repeat the entire line again before allowing her to say her final goodbye, “In stilling a tear as I

say to my relatives… (rest)…. In Roma… (an even longer pause)… A Dio.” Measure 49 is when

Ottavia finally says her last goodbye. Up to this point, it has been building to this hugely
dramatic and bold climax. When Ottavia says the words ‘in Roma’ for the second time in

measure 48, that is the peak of the piece. The audience is almost expecting this grand final

farewell; however, Ottavia’s character is so exhausted and spent that the words only come out

almost as a whisper. She quietly sings her last words in a low and haunting tone, “a Dio,”

“goodbye [Musical Example 8].”

When comparing and contrasting these two very unique laments by Monteverdi, there are

noticeable differences and similarities between the two. In both operas, they were through

composed, and had a great amount of text painting and speech like rhythms. Tempo wise,

Ottavia’s lament is slower than Arianna’s. It uses much more of a recitative style and it has better

use of the silences and pauses in order to move the audience. On the other hand, Arianna’s lyrics

are much more in depth. Both of these laments had lyrical references to the ocean. For Arianna,

she was mourning because her Teseo had disappeared without her into the sea. Ottavia’s tears

were because of the fact that she was being forced to board a ship as she went into exile. She had

no idea what was going to become of her. It is obvious that Arianna’s happy ending with

Bacchus was a much more pleasant ending than the fate that Ottavia was forced to endure.

Laments have a way of being able to capture what it is like to carry the pain and anguish

of life, death, love, and loss. Monteverdi was able to capture the essence of lost love in both

Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna ​and ​Addio Roma​ from ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea.​ It takes

someone like Monteverdi that understands pain in order to capture it so purely. He made the

emotions real within the characters making it realistic to us because they were real emotions to

him. Mark Ringer said, “We all share the human capacity for destruction, violence, and
 14
corruption as well as for love, joy, and ecstasy.” Just like Teseo, Nero, and Poppea were able to

appreciate a much more evil side to human nature, Arianna and Bacchus were able to feel more

of the love that life has to offer. Ottavia was a very strong character in the fact that she was able

to feel both good and evil. She was so in love with Nero that she was willing for Poppea to die in

order for her to keep the life and love she had. She lost everything for it. No one can say she did

not fight for her marriage. Characters like these hold such passion within themselves; and it takes

a great lament in order to help express and convey that to the audience. Monteverdi was able to

create two laments that truly represent the combination of incredible music with human emotion.

Word Count:​ 4,273

Bibliography on Selected Laments from Operas composed by Monteverdi

Burkholder, Peter J. “Borrowing”. The ​Grove Music Online​. Accessed 7 October 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.

Carter, Tim. ​Monteverdi and his Contemporaries.​ Burlington, VT Ashgate, 2000.

Carter, Tim. ​Understanding Italian Opera.​ New York: Oxford University Press, 1954.

Carter, Tim, and Goeffrey Chew. “Monteverdi, Claudio.” In ​Grove Music Online.​ Accessed 7
October 2015. ​http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.

Higgins, Vaughan. “Il lament d’Arianna: “Lasciatemi Morire” (Ariadne’s Complaint: “Let Me
Die”).” In ​Recalling Ariadne​. 1-2. Chamber Singers of Harverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges.
2011.

Porter, James. “Lament.” The ​Grove Music Online.​ Accessed 7 October 2015.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.

14
Ringer, “​Opera’s First Master​,” 307.
Ringer, Mark. ​Opera’s First Master: The Musical Dramas of Claudio Monteverdi.​ Pompton
Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2006.

Rosand, Ellen. ​Monteverdi’s Last Operas: A Venetian Trilogy​. Berkeley: University of

California Press, 2007.

Rosand, Ellen. “Incoronazione di Poppea, L’.” In ​New Grove Dictionary of Opera.​ Accessed 7
October, 2015. ​http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com​.

Rosand, Ellen. “Seneca and the Interpretation of “I’incoronazione Di Poppea”.” ​Journal of the
American Musicological Society​ 38, no. 1 (1985).

Rosand, Ellen. “The Descending Tetrachord: An Emblem of Lament.” ​The Musical Quarterly
65, no. 3 (1979): 346-359.

Musical Examples
Example 1: Claudio Monteverdi,​ Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna, ​mm. 1-6.

Example 2: Claudio Monteverdi,​ Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna, ​mm. 22-23.

Example 3: Claudio Monteverdi,​ Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna, ​mm. 28- 32.

Example 4: Claudio Monteverdi,​ Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna, ​mm. 66-68.

Example 5: Claudio Monteverdi,​ Lasciatemi Morire​ from ​L’Arianna, ​mm. 108.

Example 6: Claudio Monteverdi, ​Addio Roma​ from ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea,​ mm. 1-9.
Example 7: Claudio Monteverdi, ​Addio Roma​ from ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea,​ mm. 34-35.

Example 8: Claudio Monteverdi, ​Addio Roma​ from ​L’ Incoronazione di Poppea,​ mm. 47-49.