Giulio Caccini

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 had adopted during the Renaissance. His vocal lines were simple, syllabic with ornamentation only at appropriate moments. A fine example of this style of composition is his Ave maria. He was a member of a group of musicians and poets known as the Florentine Camerata. Members of this group created the first operas. In 1600 Caccini and Jacopo Peri both set the poem Euridice by Ottavio Rinuccini (1562-1621) to music. Caccini's score reflects the style of the madrigals and airs found in his Le nuove musiche.