ABSTRACT
Cultural and economic contacts between early modern Venice and the Ottoman Empire were pivotal – despite all rivalry and some violent crises. Venice had always enjoyed intensive trade connections with the Ottoman Empire 2 so that the reverberations of changes in the relation between Europeans and Ottomans were felt particularly strongly. 3 Early modern Venice was, however, not only the hub of trade in the Levant, but also one of the most important musical centres in Europe. The composer Claudio Monteverdi, who had eyewitnessed a battle against the Ottomans in Hungary in 1595, was elected ‘Maestro Di Capella della Serenissima Republica Di Venetia’ in 1613. I believe that it is not least due to this experience that Monteverdi's work addresses the cultural contacts between Christian Europe and the Islamic East, resulting in a piece which might be regarded as a musical contact zone of sorts.
