Tancredi’s tears. Voice and vision in Claudio Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda

Abstract

The paper proposes a philosophical interpretation of Monteverdi’s madrigal. To the
question: “What makes the unity and the principle of the work?”, it answers: an aesthetic
theory of expression and a theological conception of incarnation. This dual
theory explains the “agitated style” that had been created to express the most violent
passions of human soul. It is the use of evocative musical figures that allows the
meeting of vision and audition. The vibrations and the trembling of the voice ensure
their exchangeability.