Claudio Monteverdi entre acédia e melancolia

Love melancholy is a central aspect of early modern era. Sixteenth century Italy is dominated by Petrach’s model, the acedia, a condition which is characterized by love pain and lack of reciprocity. But during the seventeenth century also a new melancholy feeling appears, a more gentle one characterized by a sweet nostalgia. In the article two compositions by Claudio Monteverdi are compared: Zefiro torna, on a text by Petrarca, for five voices, which is an example of the first idea of melancholy; and Zefiro torna, on a text by Rinuccini (a rewriting of the Petrarchan sonnet), for two tenors and continuo, which is an example of the second one. In the first composition Monteverdi draws upon the compositional tools of the madrigal tradition; in the second one he uses expressive tools which are clearly baroque. In a certain sense, the first composition looks at the past, the second one to the future.