48 Chapter 3
of simmetria. Ironically, Praetorius later turned against heliocentrism, though he had
initially been captivated by its harmony.^25
Among those who remained steadfastly attached to the new cosmology, William Gilbert
emphasizes the Pythagorean connection in his De magnete ( On the Magnet , 1600), listing
its ancient advocates, especially Philolaus, and praising Copernicus for having discovered
“ the harmony [ symphoniam ] ” of planetary movements.^26 Gilbert ’ s term symphonia draws
attention to the polyphonic fullness of the heliocentric cosmology, whose development by
Kepler will occupy us in chapter 5.
But the most interesting reaction to Copernicus may be discerned in a musical text, the
Dialogo della musica antica, et della moderna ( Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music ,
1580 – 81), “ surely the most influential music treatise of the late sixteenth century, ” by
Vincenzo Galilei, a lutenist and composer who became deeply interested in the nature of
ancient Greek music and its implications for the music of his own time.^27 Vincenzo had
been a student of the eminent music theorist Gioseffo Zarlino and was interested in inves-
tigating the Greek sources, which had not yet been translated into the vernacular. Vincenzo
was also part of the Camerata, a circle of enthusiasts around the Count Giuseppe de ’ Bardi,
who shared an intense interest in the relation between ancient and modern music.^28
In the course of their conversations, Bardi put Vincenzo in touch with Girolamo Mei,
an older scholar who knew Greek and was engaged in the first really careful, philological
examination of the ancient musical texts in the West since antiquity. Vincenzo had many
questions and Mei responded at great length, often giving a very different account than
what Zarlino had taught. As their exchange went on, Vincenzo became more and more
excited, convinced that he was seeing entirely new vistas in this ancient music. Above all,
Mei taught Vincenzo that Greek music had been strictly monophonic, a single melodic
line having extraordinary powers of rhetorical persuasion and emotional effect based on
its supple melody and its use of various musical modes suited to the emotions being
evoked. More interested in philological sleuthing than in contemporary musical practice,
Mei passed on his findings to Vincenzo, who collected his new understanding in his Dia-
logue. The Camerata doubtless discussed Vincenzo ’ s findings and some scholars have
viewed his text as a foundational document for their subsequent efforts to revive the lost
powers of Greek tragic drama in a newly recreated form they called opera. Bardi and
like-minded aristocratic patrons sponsored the first operas, beginning with intermedii
produced at the Medici court in the 1580s. Appropriate to its ancient inspiration, early
opera involved dramatizations of myths: Cavalieri ’ s Dialogo del anima e corpo ( Dialogue
of Body and Soul ), Peri ’ s Euridice , and especially Claudio Monteverdi ’ s L ’ Orfeo (first
performed in 1607). These dramas and Vincenzo ’ s work illuminate a crucial stage in the
development of expressivity as the essential project of contemporary music.^29
In a passing comment, Vincenzo brings forward a significant connection between these
musical developments and the new cosmology. Mei himself had not been much interested
in the relation of astronomy and music; he felt that ancient Greek music was more closely