Composer
Biography
Amarilli, mia bella appeared in Le nuove musiche, the collection of solo songs and madrigals Caccini published in Florence in 1602; its preface explains how the new solo songs were to be performed. His birthplace and birth year are uncertain: Larousse gives Rome around 1550, while Treccani discusses Rome or Tivoli and dates between 1545 and 1550. A dedication published in 1612 credits Cosimo I de' Medici with bringing him to Florence. In 1579 he sang at a Medici wedding, accompanying himself on the viol. He belonged to the circle that met at Giovanni de' Bardi's house — the Florentine Camerata — whose arguments about the music of ancient Greek drama produced monody: one expressive vocal line over plain chordal support. He contributed to the collaborative Euridice of 1600 and his own setting was performed in 1602. His daughters Francesca and Settimia both became musicians. He was buried in Florence in December 1618. His service at the Medici court began during the 1560s, and he had a hand in Il rapimento di Cefalo, performed for the wedding festivities of Henri IV and Maria de' Medici. He described the new manner as a kind of singing in which one could speak, and he taught it to musicians, among them the castrato Giovanni Gualberto Magli, who sang in the first performance of Monteverdi's Orfeo.