Music of the Renaissance October 29, 2008

Music of the Renaissance
Nimet Habachy, lecturer and writer on music.

The Renaissance not only fostered humanistic ideals but also boasted a cavalcade of stars that included the Medicis, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo. No royal court was without its splendid musical entertainments, as music was thought to purify the soul and bring one closer to God. Flemish composer Heinrich Isaac first took his talents to the court of Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence and later worked for Emperor Maximilian I in Vienna. Lutenist and composer John Dowland served royalty in France, Denmark, and his native England. The Renaissance inspired Claudio Monteverdi, the most renowned composer in Italy in the early 1600s, to invent what we know as opera and then served as the perfect setting for two of Giuseppe Verdi’s greatest operas, Rigoletto and Don Carlo.

This week’s topic:

October 29
The Renaissance in Italy: Cosimo de’ Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Heinrich Isaac

Official Website: http://www.metmuseum.org/tickets