Tarquinio Merula

Early Baroque composer Tarquinio Merula (ca. 1594-1665) spent most of his career in Cremona and Bergamo as organist and director of musical activities of churches and cathedrals. His vocal music bears similarities to that of Monteverdi, but like Giovanni Gabrieli, Merula moved away from polyphony and toward consistent diatonic harmonies. He was one of the first to use instrumental accompaniment for motets and the recitative-aria form that would become the norm for Baroque cantatas. His instrumental canzonas alternate contrasting sections and recapitulate material, part of the development of the sonata da chiesa form.