By the end of his life, Monteverdi's fame was at its zenith, reaching out to the farthest flung points of the European continent, "the whole world" as far as they understood it at the time. He was being touted everywhere as a great man, practically a pied-piper of human emotions, able to play upon hearts with the ease and mastery of a virtuoso instrumentalist. The hyperboles flew. Laudate Dominum in sanctus, a fully modern arioso piece, must have been one of the types of pieces, aside from the beloved operas, that made his many admirers swoon with such devotion. Originally published in the well-known Selva morale e spirituale, it shows up in a collection printed in Leipzig only a couple of years later. Obviously, Laudate Dominum was considered choice Monteverdi.

The beginning section, in a merry triple meter, is almost like a little symphonia unto itself. The soprano opens with a piercing cry to "Praise God," then dashes on into a joyful, tickling threshing-out of every new Baroque trick, laying on hemiolas, held notes, and beautiful, descriptive melismas. Her line sounds sometimes like one part excerpted from a duet. During this initial section, the piece is truly, unambiguously Baroque. The melody is full of catchy little motifs, the whole is organized, in tonal and structural terms, essentially the way the modern ear is used to hearing a melody organized.

But after this, Laudate Dominum switches from the merry dance meter to a more reserved recitative style, creating a total change in mood and focus. Rather than the melody being the center of attention now, it is the voice itself that is profiled. Plenty of tricky ornaments are of course written in to help listeners admire the virtuosity of the singer. Hear especially the alleluia; it must've been one of the best-dressed alleluias of its time. The change doesn't correspond with any change in the text, however, showing that Monteverdi was sometimes quite happy to follow a purely musical plan even at the expense of his stated Seconda prattica ideals. Laudate Dominum is essentially a show piece that, in its aesthetic generosity, gives room on the stage to several different players—two different aspects of the new music, the singer herself, and finally, the ostensible reason for all this joyous noise, God. Monteverdi grants each and every one of them a full spotlight bow, double encores, and a standing ovation.

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