Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page

Le nuove musiche is a collection of madrigals and songs for solo voice and basso continuo by the composer Giulio Caccini, published in Florence in July 1602. It is one of the earliest and most significant examples of music written in the early baroque style of the seconda prattica. It contains 12 madrigals and 10 arias. caccini-le nuove musiche This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... caccini-le nuove musiche This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page Giulio Caccini (October 8, 1551 – December 10, 1618) was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the very late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... Seconda pratica, literally second practice, is the counterpart to prima pratica and is more commonly referred to as Stile moderno. ... Madrigal may refer to: Madrigal, Spain Trecento-Madrigal, a musical form of the 13th and 14th centuries Madrigal (music), a musical form of the 16th and 17th centuries Madrigal (literature) Madrigal may also be: A city in the computer game Myth The fictional character Anna Madrigal from Armistead Maupins... An aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. ...

The volume was dedicated to Lorenzo Salviati and is dated February 1601; it was to be published early in 1602 but the printer, Giulio Marescotti, died before publication was completed, and its release was delayed until July of 1602.

The introduction to this volume is probably the most clearly written description of the purpose, intent and correct performance of monody from the time. It includes musical examples of ornaments—for example, how a specific passage can be ornamented in several different ways, according to the precise emotion that the singer wishes to convey. Caccini expressed disappointment at inappropriate ornamentation by the singers of his day. The preface also includes effusive praise for the style which he himself invented, and amusing disdain for the work of more conservative composers of the period. Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page In poetry, monody is a poem in which one person laments anothers death. ... In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ...

An abridged English translation of Le nuove musiche's preface was printed in John Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Music from 1664 to 1694. Le nuove musiche's success inspired many similar collections in the seventeenth century, and it is regularly anthologized in modern collections. John Playford was born in Norwich in 1623 and died in London in 1686. ...

References

• Carter, Tim, et al. "Caccini, Giulio". New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online.