Editing Monody (section)

==History==
Musical monody, which developed out of an attempt by the [[Florentine Camerata]] in the 1580s to restore [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] practices of melody and declamation (probably with little historical accuracy), one solo voice sings a melodic part, usually with considerable [[ornament (music)|ornamentation]], over a rhythmically independent bass line.  Accompanying instruments could be [[lute]], [[chitarrone]], [[theorbo]], [[harpsichord]], [[Organ (music)|organ]], and even on occasion [[guitar]].  While some monodies were arrangements for smaller forces of the music for large ensembles which was common at the end of the 16th century, especially in the [[Venetian School (music)|Venetian School]], most monodies were composed independently.  The development of monody was one of the defining characteristics of early [[Baroque music|Baroque]] practice, as opposed to late [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] style, in which groups of voices sang independently and with a greater balance between parts.

Contrasting passages in monodies could be for the most part melodic or for the most part declamatory and the two styles of presentation developed into the [[aria]] and the [[recitative]] respectively, both of which came to be incorporated into the [[cantata]] by about 1635.

The parallel development of solo song with accompaniment in [[France]] was called the ''[[air de cour]]'':  the term monody is not normally applied to these more conservative songs, however, which retained many musical characteristics of the Renaissance ''[[chanson]]''.

An important early treatise on monody is contained in [[Giulio Caccini]]'s song collection, ''[[Le nuove musiche]]'' (Florence, 1601).