Constantijn Huygens in Venice - 24 June, 1620

from Diary of Constantijn Huygens, June 1620, page 574:

On the 24th [June], the feast of St John the Baptist, I was taken to the church of SS John and Lucy [ = St John the Almsgiver] where I heard the most excellent music that I think I shall ever hear in my life.  The renowned Claudio Monteverdi, who composed it, supervised and conducted it on this occasion, with the accompaniment of 4 theorbos, 2 cornetts, 2 bassoons, 2 violins, a bass viol of enormous size, organs and other instruments all of which were managed and played superbly well, with 10 or 12 voices in addition.  I was quite beside myself with delight.

cite as

Denis Stevens, Diary of Constantijn Huygens, June 1620. In 'Monteverdiana 93' in Early Music, volume 21, No. 4 (November, 1993), p. 574. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1521120656735 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: Venice

Listeners

Constantijn Huygens
Composer, Diplomat, Poet
1596-1687

Listening to

hide composers
Sacred music
written by Claudio Monteverdi
performed by Directed by Claudio Monteverdi

Experience Information

Date/Time 24 June, 1620
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by lcc5 on Thu, 15 Mar 2018 13:30:56 +0000
Approved on Thu, 22 Mar 2018 12:22:51 +0000