Orazio Vecchi

The important contributions of this Italian madrigalist are contained in four works, "Selve di varia recreatione," "L'Amfiparnaso," "Il convito musicale," and Le veglie di Siena." Vecchi's goal was to unite the grave expressions of music with the lighter more comic forms. This is particularly noticeable in his "L'Amfiparnaso" in which the male and female protagonists encounter a series of moving events only to be united at the end in marriage. Though this work was not an opera some consider it to be one of the forerunners of opera while others accept it as the last voice of a capella polyphonic music. Vecchi was a definite contributor to the development of the opera from the madrigal. As a priest Vecchi came to serve as a master of the chapel in Salo, Modena, Corregio and once again Modena. Most of the music he composed was for the purpose of light entertainment and drama. ~ Keith Johnson