The modern state of Italy did not come into being until 1861, though the roots of music on the Italian peninsula can be traced back to the music of Ancient Rome. See also Music history of Italy The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum of Opera and instrumental Classical music, the traditional Art Music "Art music" is a somewhat broader term than "classical music" and may be defined for the purposes of this article as "establishment" music Italian opera is both the art of Opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Rock and pop Italian Popular Music has produced pop stars including: Anthony Tortorich, Paola & Chiara, Lucio Dalla, Renato Zero Italy is a European country and has had a long relationship with Rock and roll, a style of music which spread to the country by the early 1960s from the United There was a dynamic Italian Hardcore punk scene in the 1980s. Hip hop music and culture in Italy is an evolution of the way in which Italian youth make known their dissatisfaction for the current social and economic issues that are presented to them Italian folk music has a deep and complex history National unification came quite late to the Italian peninsula, so its many hundreds of separate cultures remained Italian jazz. James Reese Europe 's military concerts in France in World War I in 1919 are claimed to have introduced Europeans to a new "syncopated" The Italian progressive rock scene was born in the early 70s mostly inspired by the progressive movement in Britain, but with certain features of its own Time line for Music of Italy Dates for musical periods such as Baroque Classical Romantic etc Italian music awards There are a great number of music competitions that offer prizes for performance and composition in both classical and popular music The FIMI (short for Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana Federation of the Italian Music Industry in English) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually Italian music festivals Below is a list of major Music festivals in Italy with links to the appropriate external websites Arena di Verona Outdoor opera The Festival della canzone italiana (in English Italian song festival) is a popular Italian song contest running since 1951 and held annually in the city of Sanremo The Umbria Jazz Festival is one of the most important jazz festivals in the world and has been held annually since 1973 usually in July in the city of Perugia, Italy The Ravello Festival is also popularly known as the "Wagner Festival" and is an annual summer festival of music and the arts held in the town of Ravello on the For the Spoleto Festival USA see Spoleto Festival USA and for the Spoleto Festival Melbourne see Melbourne International Arts Festival. The Festivalbar is an Italian singing competition that takes place in the most important Italian squares during summer such as the Piazza del Duomo Milan; the first There is an abundance of print on-line and broadcast media in Italy that cover all kinds of music A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history traditions and struggles of its people recognized either by a nation's Il Canto degli Italiani ( The Song of the Italians) is the Italian National anthem. The development of music in the Aosta Valley region of Italy similar to nearby Piedmont, has much to do with the presence of medieval monasteries that preserved At first glance the Music of Abruzzo seems less defined than other regional music in Italy The music of Basilicata is sparse at the moment There is little theatrical or staged musical tradition and the facilities have not yet fully recovered from the powerful earthquake The music of Calabria is part of the Italian musical tradition. Music of Campania The capital city of the Campania region of Italy is Naples; there is a separate article dealing with the Music of Naples. The Music of Emilia-Romagna has the reputation of being one of the richest in Europe; there are six music conservatories alone in the region and the While Florence, itself "needs no introduction" as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, the music of Florence may in fact need such an introduction The musical fortunes of Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Furlanija - Julijska krajina are closely tied to its political fortunes over the course of centuries all having (For music outside of the city and province of Genoa in the Liguria region of Italy see Music of Liguria. ( Latium (Lazio is a region in central Italy that includes the city and province of Rome. The Music of Liguria flourished in the 19th century for a number of reasons This article is about the Music of Lombardy outside of the city and province of Milan The music of the Marche, a region of Italy, has been shaped by the fact that the entire region is a collection of small centers of population The music of Milan has ancient roots The Ambrosian chants are among the first codified music in Western culture which fact led to the later development of our concept While it is one of the smallest regions of Italy the Music of Molise is active Naples has played an important and vibrant role over the centuries not just in the Music of Italy, but in the general history of western European musical traditions The Piedmont has played an important role in the development of music in general in Italy due to the presence of medieval monasteries in that area institutions that The Music of Puglia has had some glorious history as well as some very hard times The Musica of Rome is intensely active The venues for live music include the Theater of the Opera the theater was built in the 1880s in the building boom to expand Sardinia is probably the most culturally distinct of all the regions in Italy and musically is best-known for the Tenores Polyphonic chant sacred songs The Music of Sicily refers to music created by peoples from the isle of Sicily. The Music of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol reflects the multilingual and multiethnic make-up of the region (This article is about the Music of Tuscany outside of the city and province of Florence There are 70 community bands 110 community Choirs and about 20 secondary music schools The music of Veneto has much to offer Venice See also Music of Venice Venues The city of Venice in Italy has played an important role in the development of the Music of Italy. Opera houses are listed by continent then by country with the name of the opera house and city the opera company is sometimes named for clarity Below is an alphabetical list by city of those music conservatories in Italy that maintain webpages This is an article on the terminology used to describe the Music of Italy. We know less about Ancient Roman Music than we do about the Music of ancient Greece. However, the underpinnings of much modern Italian music come from the Middle Ages.

Before 1500

Italy was the site of several key musical developments in the development of the Christian liturgies in the West. Around 230, well before Christianity was legalized, the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus attested the singing of Psalms with refrains of Alleluia in Rome. For places named after the saint see Saint-Hippolyte Saint Hippolytus of Rome (c Psalms ( Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים, or "praises" is a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) included The Alleluia is chanted before the Gospel lesson in the Eucharistic Liturgies of the various Christian liturgical rites. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 In 386, in imitation of Eastern models, St. Ambrose wrote hymns, some of whose texts still survive, and introduced antiphonal psalmody to the West. Saint Ambrose (c 338 &ndash 4 April 397) was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century This article is about the musical term See Antiphon (person the orator of ancient Greece Around 425, Pope Celestine I contributed to the development of the Roman Rite by introducing the responsorial singing of a Gradual, and Cassian, Bishop of Brescia, contributed to the development of the monastic Office by adapting Egyptian monastic psalmody to Western usage. Pope The liturgical rite of the Church of Rome is called the Roman Rite. A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian Liturgies. The Gradual ( Latin: graduale, sometimes called the Grail) is a chant in the extraordinary form of the Roman Catholic Mass Brescia ( Lombard: Brèsa) is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Canonical hours are divisions of time developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed Prayers of the daily round Later, around 530, St. Benedict would arrange the weekly order of monastic psalmody in his Rule. "Saint Benedict" redirects here This article is about the founder of Western monasticism for other saints named Benedict see Benedict. Later, in the 6th century, Venantius Fortunatus created some of Christianity's most enduring hymns, including "Vexilla regis prodeunt," which would later become the most popular hymn of the Crusades. Saint Venantius Fortunatus or Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus (c The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents ^[1]

The Guidonian Hand

The earliest extant music in the West is plainsong,^[2] a kind of monophonic, unaccompanied, early Christian singing performed by Roman Catholic monks, which was largely developed roughly between the seventh and twelfth centuries. For the band see " Plainsong (band " For the song on The Cure's 1989 album see " Disintegration " In Music, texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and by the relationship between Although Gregorian chant has its roots in Roman chant and is popularly associated with Rome, it is not indigenous to Italy, nor was it the earliest nor the only Western plainchant tradition. History Gregorian chant was organized codified and notated mainly in the Frankish lands of western and central Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries with later additions Ireland, Spain, and France each developed a local plainchant tradition, but only in Italy did several chant traditions thrive simultaneously: Ambrosian chant in Milan, Old Roman chant in Rome, and Beneventan chant in Benevento and Montecassino. Ambrosian chant (also known as Milanese chant) is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church related Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Old Roman chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Roman rite of the Roman Catholic Church formerly performed in Rome, closely related Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Beneventan chant is a liturgical plainchant repertory of the Roman Catholic Church used primarily in the orbit of the southern Italian ecclesiastical centers Benevento is a town and Comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the Province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. For information about the World War II battle see the Battle of Monte Cassino. Gregorian chant, which supplanted the indigenous Old Roman and Beneventan traditions, derived from a synthesis of Roman and Gallican chant in Carolingian France. Gallican chant refers to the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Gallican rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Gaul, prior to the introduction The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Gregorian chant later came to be strongly identified with Rome, especially as musical elements from the north were added to the Roman Rite, such as the Credo in 1014. The liturgical rite of the Church of Rome is called the Roman Rite. The credo ( Latin for "I Believe" ˈkɾeːd̪oː is a statement of Religious belief, such as the Nicene Creed (or less often another creed This was part of a general trend wherein the manuscript tradition in Italy weakened and Rome began to follow northern plainchant traditions. Gregorian chant supplanted all the other Western plainchant traditions, Italian and non-Italian, except for Ambrosian chant, which survives to this day. The native Italian plainchant traditions are notable for a systematic use of ornate, stepwise melodic motion within a generally narrower range, giving the Italian chant traditions a smoother, more undulating feel than the Gregorian. In Music, a step is a linear or successive interval between two pitches which are consecutive Scale degrees Any larger interval is called a ^[3] Crucial in the transmission of chant were the innovations of Guido d'Arezzo, whose Micrologus, written around 1020, described the musical staff, solmization, and the Guidonian hand (image, right). Guido of Arezzo or Guido Aretinus or Guido da Arezzo or Guido Monaco or Guido D'Arezzo (991/992&ndashafter 1033 was a music theorist In standard Western Musical notation, the staff ( AmE) or stave Solmization is a system of attributing a distinct Syllable to each note in a Musical scale. In Medieval music, the Guidonian hand was a Mnemonic device used to assist singers in learning to sight sing. This early form of do-re-mi created a technical revolution in the speed at which chants could be learned, memorized, and recorded. Much of the European classical musical tradition, including opera and symphonic and chamber music can be traced back to these Italian medieval developments in musical notation,^[4] formal music education and construction techniques for musical instruments. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra. Chamber music is a form of Classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber See also Modern musical symbols Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived Music through the use Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music.

Even as the northern chant traditions were displacing indigenous Italian chant, displaced musicians from the north contributed to a new thriving musical culture in 12th-century Italy. The Albigensian Crusade, supposedly to attack Cathar heretics, brought southern France under northern French control and crushed Occitan culture and language. The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209&ndash1229 was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar Most troubadours fled, especially to Spain and Italy. A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350 Italy developed its own counterparts to troubadours, called trovatori, including Sordello of Mantua. Sordello da Goito or Sordel de Goit (sometimes Sordell) was a 13th-century Lombard Troubadour, born in the municipality of Goito Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the Frederick II, the last great Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, encouraged music at the Sicilian court, which became a refuge for these displaced troubadours, where they contributed to a melting pot of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim musical styles. Frederick II ( December 26, 1194 &ndash December 13, 1250) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was a Pretender to the title Italian secular music was largely the province of these jongleurs, troubadors, and mimes. ^[5] One important consequence of the troubadour influence during this period, in Italy and across Europe, was the gradual shift from writing strictly in Latin to the local language, as championed by Dante in his treatise De vulgari eloquentia; this development extended to the lyrics of popular songs and forms such as the madrigal,^[6] meaning "in the mother tongue. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. De vulgari eloquentia ( On Eloquence in the vernacular) is the title of an essay by Dante Alighieri, written in Latin and initially meant to consist A madrigal is a type of Secular vocal music composition written during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras " Also around this time, Italian flagellants developed the Italian folk hymns known as spiritual laude. Flagellants are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by Whipping it with various instruments Lauda Air is an Airline based in Vienna, Austria. It operates scheduled leisure flights and charters to holiday destinations in Europe,

Between 1317 and 1319, Marchettus of Padua wrote the Lucidarium in artae musicae planae and the Pomerium artis musicae mensuratae, major treatises on plainchant and polyphony, expounding a theory of rhythmic notation that paved the way for Trecento music (Italian ars nova). Marchetto da Padova ( Marchettus of Padua; b 1274? fl 1305 &ndash 1319 was an Italian music theorist and composer of the late medieval era For the band see " Plainsong (band " For the song on The Cure's 1989 album see " Disintegration " In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony The Trecento was a period of vigorous activity in Italy in the arts including painting architecture literature and music Ars nova was a stylistic period in Music of the Late Middle Ages, centered in France, which encompassed the period roughly from the preparation Around 1335, the Rossi Codex, the earliest extant collection of Italian secular polyphony, included examples of indigenous Italian genres of the Trecento including early madrigals, cacce, and ballate. The Rossi Codex is a music manuscript collection of the 14th century. The Madrigal is an Italian musical form of the 14th century. The form flourished ca In Music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a Melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e The ballata (plural ballate) is an Italian poetic and Musical form, which was in use from the late 13th to the 15th century The early madrigal was simpler than the more well-known later madrigals, usually consisting of tercets arranged polyphonically for two voices, with a refrain called a ritornello. The caccia was often in three-part harmony, with the top two lines set to words in musical canon. The early ballata was often a poem in the form of a virelai set to a monophonic melody. A virelai is a form of Medieval French verse used often in Poetry and Music. In Music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of Melody without accompanying Harmony. ^[7] The Rossi Codex included music by Jacopo da Bologna, the first famous Trecento composer. Jacopo da Bologna (fl 1340 &ndash 1360) was an Italian composer of the Trecento, the period sometimes known as the Italian ars nova

The Ivrea Codex, dated around 1360, and the Squarcialupi Codex, dated around 1410, were major sources of late Trecento music, including the music of Francesco Landini, the famous blind composer. The Squarcialupi Codex (Florence Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana Med Francesco Landini or Landino (around 1325 &ndash September 2, 1397) was an Italian Composer, organist, singer poet Landini's name was attached to his characteristic "Landini cadence," in which the final note of the melody dips down two notes before returning, such as C-B-A-C. A Landini cadence is a type of cadence, a technique in Music composition, named after Francesco Landini (1325-1397 a blind Florentine organist in honor Trecento music influenced northern musicians such as Johannes Ciconia, whose synthesis of the French and Italian styles presaged the "international" music typical of the Renaissance. Johannes Ciconia (c 1335 or c 1370 &ndash between June 10 and July 12, 1412) was a late medieval Composer and music theorist

During the 15th century, Italy entered a slow period in native composition, with the exception of a few bright lights such as the performer and anthologist Leonardo Giustinian. As the powerful northern families such as the d'Este and Medici built up powerful political dynasties, they brought northern composers of the Franco-Flemish school such as Josquin and Compère to their courts. "Este" redirects here For the city see Este Italy. For Tolkien's fictional character see Estë. In Music, the Franco-Flemish School refers somewhat imprecisely to the style of polyphonic Vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th Josquin des Prez (c 1450 to 1455 &ndash August 27 1521 often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Starting in the last decades of the century, Italian composers such as Marchetto Cara and Bartolomeo Tromboncino wrote light, courtly songs called frottole for the Mantuan court of Isabella d'Este. Marchetto Cara (c 1470 &ndash probably 1525 was an Italian composer lutenist and singer of the Renaissance. Bartolomeo Tromboncino (c 1470 &ndash 1535 or later was an Italian composer of the middle Renaissance. The frottola was the predominant type of Italian popular secular song of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century Mantua (Màntova in the local dialect of Lombard language Mantua is a city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the Isabella d'Este ( 18 May 1474 &ndash 13 February 1539) was marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the With the support of the Medici, the Florentine Mardi Gras season led to the creation of witty, earthy carnival songs called canti carnascialeschi. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany

Renaissance era, 16th century

For more details, see also Roman School, Venetian School, Venetian polychoral style, Music of Venice

Saint Mark's in Venice. The Roman school is the education system of the Ancient Rome. In music history the Venetian School is a term used to describe the Composers working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610; it also describes The Venetian polychoral style was a type of music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras which involved spatially separate Choirs singing in alternation The city of Venice in Italy has played an important role in the development of the Music of Italy. The spacious, resonant interior was one of the inspirations for the music of the Venetian School.

The 16th century saw the advent of printed polyphonic music and advances in instrumental music, which contributed to the international distribution of music characteristic of the Renaissance. In 1501, Ottaviano dei Petrucci published the Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, the first substantial collection of printed polyphonic music, and in 1516, Andrea Antico published the Frottole intablate da sonari organi, the earliest printed Italian music for keyboard. Ottaviano Petrucci ( June 18, 1466 – May 7 1539) was an Italian printer Italy became the primary center of harpsichord construction, violin production started in Cremona in the workshop of Andrea Amati, and lutenist Francesco Canova da Milano earned Italy an international reputation for virtuosic musicianship. Cremonese redirects here For the football team see US Cremonese Cremona is a City in northern Italy, situated ^[8]

Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa.

Music achieved new heights of cultural respectability. Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier recommended proficiency at music as a courtly virtue, and Santa Maria di Loreto, the first music conservatory, was built in Naples. Baldasare Castiglione, count of Novellata ( December 15, 1478 &ndash February 28, 1529) was an Italian Courtier, The Book of the Courtier (Il Cortegiano was written by Baldassare Castiglione over the course of many years beginning in 1508 and published in 1528 just Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Adrian Willaert developed music for double chorus at St. Mark's in Venice. Adrian Willaert (c 1490 &ndash 7 December 1562 was a Flemish Composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. Saint Mark's Basilica ( Italian: Basilica di San Marco a Venezia) the Cathedral of Venice, is the most famous of Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the This tradition of Venetian polychoral music would reach its height in the early baroque music of Giovanni Gabrieli. Giovanni Gabrieli (c 1554/1557 &ndash August 12 1612 was an Italian Composer and organist. Unlike the earlier, simpler madrigals of the Trecento, madrigals of the 16th century were written for several voices, often by non-Italians brought into the wealthy northern courts. The Trecento (Italian for 300 or from "mille trecento" 1300 refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history Madrigalists aspired to create high art, often using the refined poetry of Petrarchan sonnets, and utilizing musically sophisticated techniques such as text painting. The sonnet is one of the poetic forms that can be found in Lyric poetry from Europe. Composers such as Cipriano de Rore and Orlando di Lasso experimented with increasing chromaticism, which would culminate in the mannerist music of Carlo Gesualdo. Cypriano de Rore or Cipriano de Rore (1515 or 1516 – between September 11 and September 20 1565 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active Orlande de Lassus (also Orlandus Lassus, Orlando di Lasso, Roland de Lassus, or Roland Delattre) (1532 (possibly 1530 &ndash June In Music, chromaticism is a Compositional technique interspersing the primary Diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the Chromatic Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. This article is about the composer for the Italian town see Gesualdo (town. In 1558, Gioseffo Zarlino, the premier musical theorist of the period, wrote the Istitutioni harmoniche, which addressed such practical musical issues as invertible counterpoint. Gioseffo Zarlino ( January 31 or March 22, 1517 &ndash February 4, 1590) was an Italian music theorist and In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony Lighter music was represented by the villanella, which originated in popular songs of Naples and spread throughout Italy. In music a villanella (plural villanelle &mdash not to be confused with the French poetic form Villanelle) is a form of light Italian secular Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the

Music was not immune to the politically charged atmosphere of Renaissance Italy. In 1559, Antonio Gardano published Musica nova, whose politically pro-republican partisan songs pleased the northern Italian republics and riled the Church. ^[9] In 1562-1563, the third portion of the Council of Trent addressed issues of music in the Church. The Council of Trent was the 19th Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Most paraliturgical music, including all but four Sequences were banned. This article is about Latin poems and songs For the Early music group see Sequentia (music group. An outright ban on polyphonic music was debated behind the scenes, and guidelines were issued requiring that church music have clear words and a pure, uplifting style. Although the tales of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina "rescuing" polyphony with the Missa Papae Marcelli are no longer accepted by scholars, Palestrina's music remains the paradigm of the musical aesthetic promoted by the Church. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 - 2 February 1594 was an Italian Composer of the Renaissance. Missa Papae Marcelli, or Pope Marcellus Mass, is a mass by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. ^[10] Shortly afterwards, in 1614, the Editio medicea (Medicean Edition) of Gregorian chant was released, rewriting the Gregorian chant repertory to purge it of perceived corruptions and barbarisms, and return it to a "purer" state closer in style to Palestrinian melodies.

In the late 16th century and early 17th century, composers began pushing the limits of the Renaissance style. Madrigalism reached new heights of emotional expression and chromaticism in what Claudio Monteverdi called his seconda pratica (second practice), which he saw originating with Cipriano de Rore and developing in the music of composers such as Luca Marenzio and Giaches de Wert. Cypriano de Rore or Cipriano de Rore (1515 or 1516 – between September 11 and September 20 1565 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active Luca Marenzio (also Marentio) ( October 18 ? 1553? &ndash August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance Giaches de Wert (1535 &ndash May 6, 1596) was a Franco-Flemish composer active in Italy. This music was characterized by increased dissonance and by sections of homophony, which led to such traits of the early baroque as unequal voices where the bass line drove the harmonies and the treble melody became more prominent and soloistic. In Music, homophony (hoʊˈmɒfəni from Greek "homófonos" where ομοιο = the same and φωνή = a sound tone is a texture in which two or more This transitional period between the Renaissance and baroque included the development of the Sicilian polyphonic school in the works of Pietro Vinci, the first extant polyphony written by women, the fusion of Hebrew texts and European music in the works of Salomone Rossi, and the virtuosic women's music of Luzzasco Luzzaschi performed by the Concerto delle donne in Ferrara. Salamone Rossi [[Hebrew] סלומונה רוסי] Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c 1545 &ndash September 10, 1607) was an Italian Composer, Organist, and teacher of the late Renaissance Second page of O dolcezz'amarissime Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara.

Baroque era, 16th – 18th centuries

Claudio Monteverdi

The exact nature of ancient Greek musical drama is a matter of dispute. Much of what defines Western European culture in terms of Philosophy, Science, and the arts has origins in the culture of Ancient What is important, however, for the later development of Italian and European music is that poets and musicians of the Florentine Camerata in the late 1500s thought--in the words of one of them, Jacopo Peri--that the "ancient Greeks sang entire tragedies on the stage". The Florentine Camerata was a group of humanists Musicians Poets and Intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered Jacopo Peri ( August 20 1561 &ndash August 12 1633) was an Italian Composer and singer of the transitional period between ^[11] Thus was born the musical version of the Italian Renaissance: paying tribute to classical Greece by retelling Greek myths within a staged musical context--the first operas. The History of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically and the territory now composing the modern state of The works emerged in this period with relatively simple melodies and the texts about Greek mythology sung in Italian. (Opera may have deeper roots in the Tuscan maggio drammatico tradition^[12][13]). Literally "plays of May" the Maggio drammatico refers to medieval musical and dramatic rituals at planting time in central Italy typical of many Agrarian societies Three cities are especially important in this period in Italy: Venice, as the birthplace of commercial opera; Rome, for Palestrina's school of Renaissance polyphony; and Naples, as the birthplace of church-sponsored music conservatories. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 - 2 February 1594 was an Italian Composer of the Renaissance. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the The Music Conservatories of Naples The current music conservatory in Naples is San Pietro a Maiella (alternately spelled as "Majella" These conservatories evolved into training grounds, providing composers and musicians for Italy and, indeed, Europe as a whole. Claudio Monteverdi is considered the first great composer of the new musical form, opera, the person who turned Florentine novelty into a "unified musical drama with a planned structure. "^[14]

The years 1600 to 1750 encompass the musical Baroque. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. A new dominance of melody within harmony at the expense of text led to great changes, including the expansion of instrumental resources of the orchestra. The keyboard was extended, and the making of stringed instruments by Antonio Stradivari became a great industry in Cremona. Antonio Stradivari (1644 &ndash December 18 1737 was an Italian Luthier, a crafter of Stringed instruments such as Violins cellos Cremonese redirects here For the football team see US Cremonese Cremona is a City in northern Italy, situated Instrumental music started to develop as a separate "track," quite apart from the traditional role of accompanying the human voice. Instrumental forms include such things as the sonata, symphony, and concerto. Usage of sonata The Baroque applied the term sonata to a variety of works though most works in the Baroque Period were fugues and toccatas A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra. The term Concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a three part musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an Orchestra Important names in music within this period in Italy are Alessandro Scarlatti, and Antonio Vivaldi, representing the importance of Naples and Venice, respectively, within this period. Alessandro Scarlatti (May 2 1660 &ndash October 24 1725 was an Italian Baroque Composer especially famous for his Operas and chamber Cantatas

The San Carlo theater (building on right in photo) in Naples.

The physical resources for music advanced greatly during the 1700s. The great opera houses in Naples and Milan were built: the San Carlo Theater and La Scala, respectively. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was It is the age, as well, of the rise to prominence of the Neapolitan—and then Italian—Comic opera. Comic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature usually with a happy ending Important, too, is the restoring of balance between text and music in opera, largely through the librettos of Pietro Trapassi, called Metastasio. Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his Pseudonym of Metastasio, ( January 3, 1698 &ndash April 12, 1782 ^[15]

Important Italian composers in this century are: Domenico Scarlatti, Benedetto Marcello, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni, Giovanni Paisiello, Luigi Boccherini, Domenico Cimarosa, and Luigi Cherubini. Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (October 26 1685 – July 23 1757 was a Neapolitan Composer who spent much of his life in Spain and Portugal. Benedetto Marcello (July 31 or August 1, 1686 &ndash July 24, 1739) was an Italian Composer, Writer, Advocate Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (January 4 1710 &ndash 16 or March 17 1736 was an Italian Composer, Violinist and organist. Niccolò Piccinni ( January 16, 1728 - May 7, 1800) was an Italian Composer of symphonies sacred music chamber music Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello) ( May 9, 1740 &ndash June 5, 1816) was an Italian Composer of the Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini ( February 19, 1743 &ndash May 28, 1805) was a classical era Composer and cellist Domenico Cimarosa ( 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian Opera Composer of the Neapolitan Luigi Cherubini ( September 8 or September 14, 1760 &ndash March 15, 1842) was an Italian born composer who spent most of his It is also the age in which Italian music became international, so to speak, with many Italian composers beginning to work abroad.

Giuseppe Verdi.

19th century

The 19th century is the age of Romanticism in European literature, art, and music. Italian opera forsakes the Comic opera for the more serious fare of Italian lyric Romanticsm. Comic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature usually with a happy ending Although the generally light-hearted and ever-popular Rossini was certainly an exception to that, Italian music of the 19th century is dominated at the beginning by the likes of Bellini and Donizetti, giving to Italian music the lyrical melodies that have remained associated with it ever since. Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Then, the last fifty years of the century were dominated by Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest musical icon in Italian history. Verdi's music "sought universality within national character"^[16]; that is, much of what he composed in terms of historical themes could be related to his pan-Italian vision. Verdi was the composer of the Italian Risorgimento, the movement to unify Italy in the 19th century. Italian Unification ( Italian: il Risorgimento, or "The Resurgence" was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian Later in the century is also the time of the early career of Giacomo Puccini, perhaps the greatest composer of pure melody in the history of Italian music. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858

Frontispiece from the score of Cavalleria Rusticana, a masterpiece of Italian Verismo from 1890.

Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of Italian musical form in the 19th century, and that which distinguishes it from musical developments elsewhere, is that it remained primarily operatic. All significant Italian composers of the century wrote opera almost to the exclusion of other forms, such as the symphony. ^[17] There are no Italian symphonists in this century, the way one might speak of Brahms in Germany, for example. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Many Italian composers, however, did write significant sacred music, however, well-known examples of which are the Stabat Mater and Messa solenne by Rossini and the Requiem Mass by Giuseppe Verdi.

Romanticism in all European music certainly held on through the turn of the century. In Italy, the music of Verdi and Puccini continued to dominate for a number of years. Even the realistic plots and more modern compositional techniques of the operas of Italian Verismo, such as Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, did not greatly affect the extremely melodic nature of Italian music. Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Pietro Mascagni ( December 7, 1863 &ndash August 2, Cavalleria rusticana ( Rustic Chivalry) is an Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti

References

• Atlas, Allan W. (1998). Renaissance Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-97169-4.  
• Crocker, Richard L (1966). A History of Musical Style. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-486-25029-6.  
• McKinnon, James, ed. (1991). Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Eaglewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-036153-4.  
• Hiley, David (1995). Western Plainchant: A Handbook. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816572-2.  
• Ulrich, Homer; Paul Pisk (1963). A History of Music and Musical Style. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanoich. ISBN 0-15-537720-5.  
• Gallo, Alberto (1995). Music in the Castle: Troubadours, Books and Orators in Italian Courts of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-27968-5.  
• Hoppin, Richard (1978). Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-09090-6.  
• (Italian) (1992) in Magrini, Tullia (ed. ): Il maggio drammatico: una tradizione di teatro in musica. Bologna: Edizioni Analisi.  
• Palisca, Claude V. (1985). Humanism in Italian Musical Thought. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04962-5.  

Notes

1. ^ McKinnon, pp. 318-320
2. ^ Ulrich and Pisk, p. 27.
3. ^ Hiley, p. 546.
4. ^ Ulrich and Pisk, p. 33.
5. ^ (Gallo 1995)
6. ^ Ulrich and Pisk, p. 185.
7. ^ Hoppin, p. 438.
8. ^ Atlas, p. 494.
9. ^ Atlas, p. 406.
10. ^ Atlas, p. 583.
11. ^ Paliska, p. 408.
12. ^ Lomax, p. 126.
13. ^ Magrini (1992).
14. ^ Ulrich and Pisk, p. 220.
15. ^ Crocker, p. 341.
16. ^ Crocker, p. 473.
17. ^ Crocker, ch. 13.