How Did Monteverdi Influence The Development Of The Opera Orchestra

One of the greatest things about music its ability to inspire growth. Many times it can evolve into bigger and greater things and many times in can do the whole opposite. One of the few topics in music where developments continued in a consistent uphill way has been that in the development of the orchestra.
Claudio Monteverdi play an important role in the development of the opera orchestra. Firstly, Monteverdi puts an orchestra instrumental list at the beginning of his of Orfeo. This easily delineates his insistence on using a certain number of instruments for what probably a certain “sound”. Monteverdi also assigned instruments to certain characters/emotions. (81) Giving a more intimate connection of instrumentation to music. Monteverdi continues is orchestral
During this time Jean-Baptiste was fully engaged in composing Ballet comique. He had very little interest in composing opera. However, when his king showed a keen interest in opera he wasted no time in shifting his compositional energies. Most interestingly Lully held a monopoly on Opera in Paris until his death in 1687. Like Monteverdi, Lully also specified his preference of instruments in his score. Lully’s specifications were predominately strings. (140) Jean-Philippe Rameau continued composing opera in the tradition of Lully. He was hailed by many as a “savior of French opera” and criticized by others as a “hopeless pedant” (198) How their compositional styles differ is in Rameau’s active use of including the chorus more repeatedly throughout his operas. Rameau also differed from Lully in how he connected his overtures to the opera. Prior to this, if Lully had little time he would use one of his previous overtures and attach them to the opera of the moment. Rameau instead connects the overture as part of the entire opera and even brings back the theme of his overtures modulated in different sections of his operas.