secular compositions were madrigals, monodies, and pieces he wrote for intermedi; his sacred compositions included a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and the Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo. This work, probably the most historically important composition of Cavalieri to survive, consists of alternating speech, strophic songs, recitative-like sections and madrigalian parts; subsequent oratorios often used it as a starting-point. It is the first work to be published with a figured bass. Most importantly, however, it was an attempt to demonstrate, at musically conservative Rome, that the modern monodic style was consistent with the aims of the Counter-Reformation and could be adapted to a religious as opposed to a secular purpose. The quick adoption of the modern musical style by other Roman composers attests to its effectiveness in this regard. Cavalieri was followed by other Roman School composers of the 17th century who included Domenico Mazzocchi, Giacomo Carissimi and Alessandro Scarlatti. Most of his music is in the most advanced style of the time. His four-part vocal music usually has a highly ornamented and expressive melodic line; the differentiation of the melodic line from the others is one of the defining features of the early Baroque. Some historians believed that Cavalieri was the originator of the trill. Sometimes he experimented with the Enharmonic scale, or enharmonic chromaticism which required microtonal tunings; apparently he built a special pipe organ in the 1590s for playing this kind of music. Sources Primary (paratextual material) (English translations of prefaces to 17th-century Italian operas by Cavalieri, Caccini, Peri, Rinuccini, and others. Includes Italian originals.) Secondary or tertiary The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, (MacMillan,1992). entries under Cavalieri, Peri, and Rappresentatione. Claude V. Palisca: "Emilio de' Cavalieri", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 17, 2005), (subscription access) Notes External links Journal of Seventeenth Century Music article on Chiesa Nuova Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Roman school composers Italian male dancers Italian classical organists Male classical organists Diplomats from Rome 1550s births 1602 deaths Musicians from Rome Renaissance composers 16th-century Italian musicians 16th-century Italian composers 16th-century dancers 16th-century Italian diplomats