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Italian composer, string player, and choirmaster who pioneered the transition from Renaissance to Baroque musicMonteverdi served at the court of Mantua (1590–1613) before becoming maestro di cappella at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice (1613–1643). He composed nine books of madrigals, operas including the groundbreaking L'Orfeo (1607), and sacred works like the Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610). His innovations in harmonic language and dramatic expression established him as the first great opera...