In 1594 Orazio Vecchi's Amfiparnasso was produced at Modena, a comedy wholly in madrigal style, which was either an unconscious demonstration of the ineptitude of that style for dramatic use or a satire (this work is extant). A similar work was Banchieri's La pazzia senile, given in 1598 at Venice.
In 1600, however, for the marriage of Henry IV. and Maria de' Medici at Florence, Rinuccini's poem Euridice was set to music independently by both Peri and Caccini, the performed version being made up from both and the two at once published. Peri's version opens with a seven-stanza prologue in recitative style, with ritornelli. The dialogue proceeds in recitative with brief interjected choruses, a long passage for a triple flute and a final dance. The accompaniment is written for a gravicembalo (harpsichord), two large lutes and a lira grande (large viol), with only bare indications of the chords intended. Caccini's version is in the same style, except that he writes more freely for the voices, actually indulging in florid runs or fioriture. These works mark the beginning of the musical drama, the joint production being usually called 'the first opera.' They also, like their many successors, illustrate the combination of the Mystery with stories of classical mythology.
In 1600, also, but some ten months earlier, Cavaliere's Rappresentazione di anima e di corpo had been produced at Rome, apparently as one of a series of sacred musical dramas under the auspices of the Oratorians, all the others of which are lost. This work is not only more extended than the above (some 90 sections), but technically more elaborate. It includes recitatives, solos, short choruses, an instrumental intermezzo, part-song movements, etc., with a final chorus in two alternative forms, one in four parts with dancing and the other contrapuntal. The sense of the text is often musically expressed with effectiveness and evidence of latent power. The accompaniment is designed for a gravicembalo, a large lute, a double lira and two flutes, with a violin suggested to strengthen the soprano throughout. Cavaliere died the year before his work was given, but he left explicit directions that show his artistic sense of dramatic values. This is often called 'the first oratorio,' though its adherence to the Morality type was not at all characteristic of its successors—and, indeed, no successor appeared for almost a quarter-century (unless possibly Agazzari's small pastoral Eumelio, 1606, is to be assigned to this class).
The principles of dramatic singing embodied in the above works were set forth by Caccini in 1601 in the preface to a book of accompanied solos called Le nuove musiche—a phrase which is still used to describe the many features in which theory and praxis about 1600 were consciously departing from the old traditions. The general thesis of Caccini's preface is that singing should be guided by the desire to bring out the meaning and artistic force of the words. Emphasis is put upon vocal execution in all its parts, including tone-formation, correct intonation and enunciation, the use of the three principal registers, text-interpretation, freedom of delivery, etc. Embellishments of various kinds are carefully explained and illustrated, though their excessive use is deprecated. Two extended examples of solos are appended for study. The whole forms a well-reasoned guide to the new art of solo-singing, and shows how rapidly ideas about its technique had matured.
