Music and Wonder at the Medici Court

On May 2, 1589, the Medici court staged the most elaborate entertainment yet produced in Florence. The intermedii (interludes) performed during Girolamo Bargagli's comedy La pellegrina were the high point of a series of celebrations mobilized by the newly proclaimed Grand Duke of Florence - Ferdinan [...]
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On May 2, 1589, the Medici court staged the most elaborate entertainment yet produced in Florence. The intermedii (interludes) performed during Girolamo Bargagli's comedy La pellegrina were the high point of a series of celebrations mobilized by the newly proclaimed Grand Duke of Florence - Ferdinando I de' Medici - for his wedding to Christine of Lorraine. These interludes were one of the major cultural events of their time and were central to the activities of the Florentine Camerata and the development of early opera.Treadwell addresses the ineffability of the listener's experience and the often contradictory accounts of the event as recorded by diarists and chroniclers. She explores the role of musical sound in the creation of meraviglia, or wonder - an important aspect of Florentine politics. Treadwell also considers the bodily practices of musico-theatrical performance and how these influenced the audience's spatial and temporal perception to further convey the "mystery of the state" as proclaimed by Florentine absolutism.