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Classic Italian Music
Who Are Some of the Composers?
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by Veronica Valentine
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The origins of music on the Italian Peninsula have been discovered back to the music of Ancient Rome. However, the foundations of practically modern and classic Italian music arrived from the Middle Ages. Italy was the region of various important musical developments in the growth of the Christian liturgies in the West. The most primitive existent music in the West is plainsong, a type of monophonic, solo, early Christian singing executed by the Roman Catholic monks, which was chiefly developed approximately between the seventh and twelfth centuries.

Roughly, in the year 1335, the Rossi Codex that was the earliest existent collection of Italian secular polyphony, enclosed the examples of autochthonic Italian genres of the Trecento that includes early ballate, cacce, and madrigals. The Ivrea Codex (dated about 1360) and the Squarcialupi Codex (dated about 1410) were the leading sources of advanced Trecento music that includes the music of Francesco Landini, who was the renowned blind composer. All around the 15th century, Italy got into a slow period in domestic composition, with the exclusion of a couple of bright lights such as the anthologist and performer Leonardo Giustinian.

During the 16th century, Italy reached the advent of published polyphonic music and improvements in the instrumental music, which had been distributed globally as music feature of the Renaissance. The period 1600-1750 comprehends the musical Baroque. During this period, the keyboard was modified, and the creation of stringed musical instruments by Antonio Stradivari developed a great business in Cremona. The extraordinary opera houses La Scala and the San Carlo Theater were constructed respectively in Milan and Naples.

Opera arose in Italy in the late 1500s. In the following centuries, the traditions of opera modernized in Naples and Venice. During this period, the operas of Alessandro Scarlatti, Claudio Monteverdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Rossini, and Vincenzo Bellini grew vigorously. Opera has stayed on the musical form that most closely associated with Italian music and identity.

Italy has a retentive chronicle of music for the Roman Catholic Church. Circa 1800 to 1900 was a century on which a more entertaining, operatic, and renowned type of church music was found out. Italian contributions to the ballet are less recognized and appreciated than in other fields of classical music.

The most noteworthy features of classic Italian music were developed in the 19th century that distinguished it from the developments of music elsewhere in the world. All substantial Italian composers of this century wrote opera virtually to the exception of other forms of music, such as the symphony.

During 19th century, the renowned example of Italian ballet is likely Excelsior -music directed by Romualdo Marenco and choreographed by Luigi Manzotti. It was composed in the year 1881; however, it is still being performed (recently staged in the year 2002). Classical Italian music grew gradually into the mid-20th century.

Veronica Valentine is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

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