Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) was an Italian singer and composer. He composed mainly two types of songs: the strophic
air and the through-composed
madrigal. He served the Medici court in Florence as music director from 1600. In reaction to the polyphonic musical style of the Renaissance, he discussed his ideas for a new style of
monody, accompanied solo song, in his Le nuove musiche (1602). The monodies in this publication contain expressive melodies accompanied by block chords rather than the traditional
polyphony. He abhored excessive ornamentation in vocal lines, a practice singers …
read more