Lasciatemi morire (Lamento d'Arianna)

C. Monteverdi

Key

Dm

Time

C

Tempo

♩=50

AO focus

AO3

Form

Solo madrigal — the only surviving fragment of Monteverdi's lost opera 'Arianna'. The opera music is gone; this lament was published separately and survived. A milestone in early monody and a foundational piece for the Baroque solo aria.

Teaching points

• Monody — single voice + continuo, the new Baroque texture replacing Renaissance polyphony
• Descending tetrachord (D–C–B♭–A) — an emerging emblem of lament. Track it in the bass
• AO3: the moment Renaissance becomes Baroque — discuss why 1600 is the conventional cut-off