Efforts to Recruit a New 'Maestro di Cappella' for the Polish Royal Ensemble in Light of Sigismund III Vasa’s Letters from 1623–24 (the cases of Stefano Landi, Claudio Monteverdi, and Giovanni Francesco Anerio)
Efforts to Recruit a New 'Maestro di Cappella' for the Polish Royal Ensemble in Light of Sigismund III Vasa’s Letters from 1623–24 (the cases of Stefano Landi, Claudio Monteverdi, and Giovanni Francesco Anerio)

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the efforts of King Sigismund III of Poland to appoint a new maestro di cappella to the royal chapel during the final months of A. Pacelli’s life and following his death on 4 May 1623. It considers the unsuccessful attempts to recruit S. Landi and, subsequently, C. Monteverdi to the Polish royal court, as well as the successful engagement of G.F. Anerio. Two letters from Sigismund III to his secretary R. Salomoni which have not previously been studied by musicologists, shed important new light on the negotiations with Monteverdi.

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