蒙特威尔第(1567～1643年)
Monteverdi, Claudio (Giovanni Antonio)
义大利作曲家。他最早的九本牧歌集其中之一於1587年发行，三年後出版了第二本。他参观了在曼图亚的贡札加宫廷，他在下一本书（1592）中表现出对不协和音的灵活应用和对音乐与歌词的良好调和能力。1599年成婚，定居曼图亚。1600年因采用更加自由的不协和音而受到抨击，他对此回答道，目前音乐有两种「做法」，较严格的第一种做法是圣歌，而更具表达力的是第二种做法通俗音乐。他在1607年发表了他的第一部具有里程碑意义的歌剧《奥菲欧》，在1610年完成了他的巨作《晚祷》。他长期以来都尝试要从曼图亚搬走，但直到1612年方才实现，并在次年开始在威尼斯负责圣马可教堂的音乐。在威尼斯的第一家歌剧院开业後，他写了他最後的三部歌剧，包括《尤里西斯返乡》（1640）和着名的《波皮亚的加冕》（1643）。蒙特威尔第是第一位伟大的巴洛克音乐家，也是将新的风格融合到一起来创作出第一部融合神圣与世俗的巴洛克巨作的改革家。
English version：
1567～1643年
Monteverdi, Claudio (Giovanni Antonio)
Italian composer. The first of his nine books of madrigals appeared in 1587, the second in 1590. He visited the court of the Gonzagas in Mantua, and his next book (1592) shows freer use of dissonance and close coordination of music and words. He married in 1599 and settled in Mantua. Attacked in 1600 for the even freer dissonance in his newest works, he replied that music now had two “practices,” the stricter first practice for sacred works and the more expressive second practice for secular music. The year 1607 saw the premiere of L'Orfeo, his landmark first opera. In 1610 he completed his great Vespers. Having long tried to obtain his release from Mantua, he was finally granted it in 1612, and the next year was put in charge of music at St. Mark's Basilica, Venice. After the first opera house opened in Venice (1637), he wrote his last three operas, including Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (1640) and the remarkable Incoronazione di Poppea (1643). Monteverdi is the first great figure of baroque music, a remarkable innovator who synthesized the elements of the new style to create the first baroque masterpieces of both sacred and secular music.