Mei was the first European to do a detailed study of ancient Greek music theory, and wrote his findings in a major treatise, De modis musicis antiquorum (not formally published, but written 1568 to 1573). Many of his findings he communicated to Vincenzo Galilei through an extensive correspondence; this information was decisive in the formation of the new musical style which was developing in Florence at the end of the 16th century, the new recitative style (stile recitativo) from which developed monody, the first music dramas, and eventually opera. Galilei and the others in the Florentine Camerata were determined to revive the musical style of ancient Greek drama, and while they may have been mistaken, ultimately, in how it was actually performed, they began, using ideas from Mei, one of the greatest revolutions in music history.
Mei also edited and annotated the tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides, as well as many other works by classical writers.
Unifying them was the belief that music had become corrupt, and by returning to the forms and style of the ancient Greeks, the art of music could be improved, and thereby society could be improved as well.
They were influenced by GirolamoMei, the foremost scholar of ancient Greece at the time, who held—among other things—that ancient Greek drama was predominantly sung rather than spoken.
While he may have been mistaken, the result was an efflorescence of musical activity unlike anything else at the time, mostly in an attempt to recover the ancient methods.
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