As a chain of events, the cycle is extremely prominent during the change of time periods between the Renaissance and Baroque. In 1581, a group of philosophers, musicians, artists, intellectuals, and scientists all met in Florence to discuss where society was headed. Resulting from what became known as the Florentine Camerata, a shift from the current complex system of the renaissance to that of a simple structure, which imitated ancient Greek society. Those such as Girolamo Mei, Giovanni Bardi, Vincenzo Galilei, Jacopo Peri, and Giulio Caccini, all discussed what would become new practices and experimentation in music (Florence 647).

The Baroque Era began at the end of the 16th century and lasted to about 1750. It reflects a period of time when great changes occurred in music and culture, and bridges the gap between the music of the renaissa

Other important aspects of the "new" style included the basso continuo or figured bass, usually a descending tetra-chord. The main melody was in the in the treble, and was usually a solo, while the bass was played as an accompaniment. The composer would then put the numbers or figures below the bass line, as we get the name, figured bass (Baroque 177). These figures represented the root tones of the chords. Performers would then fill in the remaining tones of chords, making harmonies to accompany the main melody in the treble. Figured bass was a step in the process towards developing tonal harmony. These were the probably the most crucial musical concepts and practices that changed the texture and general characteristics of European music from its polyphonic texture to homophonic and harmonic texture

Perhaps the key of the Baroque style is its idea of homophonic music versus the polyphony of before. The homophonic style created a distinct separation between the melody line and the accompaniment. The focus of text instead of music opened a new door leading to many new ideas. This introduced a solo style. "Stile recitativo was heard in at least two sacre rappresentazioni in which music was confined to a few choruses and solo songs, as in the secular commedie with intermedi" (Florence 649). This style resembled a narrative where there is no distinct rhythmic pattern, almost speech-like. In the renaissance period, all sacred music was performed by choirs. In the baroque, individual parts were assigned to soloists.

genre to a first climax in that he composed the music not according to strict academic rules, but in order to emphasize the emotion required by the plot.

In 1601-1602, Giulio Caccini published Le nuove musiche (the new music). This work containing solo madrigals was influential in establishing the popularity of monody in Italy. As seen in Amarilla Mia Bella, from Le nuove musiche, Caccini projects an expressive vocal line against a harmonic background conceived as support for the voice (Stolba 235).

Camerata turned to homophony and accompanied monody" (Stolba 244). He led the

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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)