The Sound of Music
The progress of vocal music from its first great triumph in the 16th century counterpart was much slower and varied than that of instrumental. It was the invention of Monody which prepared the way for opera. The first example of a piece conceived and written for one voice seems to have been Ugolino, a dramatic scene with Viola accompaniment, written (1584) by Galilie (Father of Philosopher), of the Florence Academy. It was this invention of Monody which prepared the way for opera and made it possible.
Unfortunately the first writers of this new school, which aimed after expressive melody, were little proficient in the more solid art of counterpoint which they affected to despise, and this tendency consistently followed out which procured for Italian music its inevitable reputation of being gracefully melodious at the expense of death and meaning. Italian opera is marked by its spontaneity and melodious nature, even more by the honor of priority. The Classical Italian music regarded to be the best of Italian music, however, still retains and exemplifies the Romantic musical tradition and keeps place in the repertoire of the European stage.