1. Approaching Monteverdi : his cultures and ours / Anthony Pryer -- Musical sources / Tim Carter -- A model musical education : Monteverdi's early works / Geoffrey Chew -- Intermedio I: 'Ecco mormorar l'onde' (1590) / Geoffrey Chew -- Monteverdi at Mantua, 1590-1612 / Roger Bowers -- Spaces for music in late Renaissance Mantua / Paola Besutti -- The Mantuan madrigals and Scherzi musicali / Massimo Ossi -- Intermedio II: 'Ahi come a un vago sol cortese giro' (1605) / Massimo Ossi -- Orfeo (1607) / Joachim Steinheuer -- The Mantuan sacred music / Jeffrey Kurtzman -- Intermedio III: 'Laetatus sum' (1610) / Jeffrey Kurtzman -- Music in Monteverdi's Venice / Iain Fenlon -- The Venetian secular music / Tim Carter -- Intermedio IV: Lamento della ninfa (1638) / Tim Carter -- The Venetian sacred music / John Whenham -- Intermedio V: Magnificat SV281 (1641) / John Whenham -- Monteverdi's late operas / Ellen Rosand -- Intermedio VI: Il ritorno d'Ulisse (1640), Act V, scene 10 / Ellen Rosand -- Monteverdi studies and 'new' musicologies / Suzanne Cusick -- Monteverdi in performance / Richard Wistreich -- Bibliography -- Selected discography / Richard Wistreich -- The works of Monteverdi : catalogue and index / John Whenham -- Index of titles and first lines

Provides an up-to-date and authoritative treatment of Monteverdi and his music, complementing Paolo Fabbri's standard biography of the composer. Written by leading specialists in the field, it is aimed at students, performers and music-lovers in general and adds significantly to our understanding of Monteverdi's music, his life, and the contexts in which he worked. Chapters offering overviews of his output of sacred, secular and dramatic music are complemented by 'intermedi', in which contributors examine individual works, or sections of works in detail. The book draws extensively on Monteverdi's letters and includes a select discography/videography and a complete list of Monteverdi's works together with an index of first lines and titles