developed in Venice, it was widespread by the end of the 16th century: almost all composers of sacred polyphony used polychoral techniques at some time, especially those working in large acoustical environments (such as most cathedrals in Europe). The most important achievement of the younger Anerio, however, was his Teatro armonico spirituale of 1619, which is arguably the first oratorio. It includes the earliest surviving obbligato writing for instruments by the Roman School. Instrumentation is indicated with unusual care, and the alternate instrumental and vocal passages were greatly influential in works of the following decades. Unlike the works of the Venetian school, many of which were essentially grandiose motets, the Teatro armonico spirituale was in Italian; it included stories told musically but not acted (as would be done in opera); and voices and instruments alternated movement by movement. The piece included settings of the tale of the Prodigal Son and the Conversion of Saul. Works Anerio was a prolific composer, and he wrote motets, litanies, antiphons, "sacred concertos," responsories, psalms, madrigals, much miscellaneous sacred and secular music, as well as a handful of instrumental pieces. Most were published in Rome; many fewer works from his Polish period seem to have been preserved, although two polychoral Masses found in manuscript (one for three choirs) can be attributed to this last phase of his career. Sources Article "Giovanni Francesco Anerio," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. References External links } Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Roman school composers Renaissance composers Musicians from Rome 1560s births 1630 deaths 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century male musicians