Luca Marenzio was an Italian composer. He was born in 1560 at Coccaglio and died in 1599. He became maestro to Cardinal d'Este, then to Sigmund III of Poland, and finally organist to the Pope's chapel in Rome. He perfected the madrigal. Research Luca Marenzio
Ballet is a dramatic representation, consisting of dancing and pantomime, regulated by the strains of music, and generally accompanied by scenery and decoration. The ballet was introduced into France from Italy about 1580 by Baltasarini under the patronage of Catherine de Medici, and improved by Rinuccini. Originally a ballet was a light part song, or madrigal, with a fa la burden or chorus common with the Elizabethanmadrigal composers.
Early ballet in England usually formed an interlude in theatrical performances, principally confined to opera. Its object was to represent, by mimic movements and dances, actions, characters, sentiments, passions, and feelings, in which several dancers perform together. The early dances frequently introduced into operas in England seldom deserved the name ballet, as they usually did not represent any action, but were destined only to give the dancers an opportunity of showing their skill, and the ballet of the 19th century was in general, from an artistic point of view, a very low-class entertainment. During the early part of the 20th century ballet evolved rapidly into a high class art form. Research Ballet
Madrigal is a term often used in a loose sense for any light song, but properly denoting a type of song of Italian origin which normally consists of two or three tercets, followed by one or more couplets. It is also used for the music written for such songs. Madrigals were either sung by three or more unaccompanied voices, or played upon viols. They were written by most of the 16th and 17th century composers. Ultimately the form was merged in the glee. Research Madrigal
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Abbreviations
Research Luca Marenzio
