Editing Florence (section)

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of Florence}}
{{See also|Music of Tuscany}}
[[File:Teatro della Pergola, Firenze 1.JPG|thumb|The Teatro della Pergola]]
Florence became a musical centre during the Middle Ages and music and the performing arts remain an important part of its culture. The growth of Northern Italian Cities in the 1500s likely contributed to its increased prominence. During the Renaissance, there were four kinds of musical patronage in the city with respect to both sacred and secular music: state, corporate, church, and private. It was here that the [[Florentine Camerata]] convened in the mid-16th century and experimented with setting tales of Greek mythology to music and staging the result—in other words, the first operas, setting the wheels in motion not just for the further development of the operatic form, but for later developments of separate "classical" forms such as the symphony and concerto. After the year 1600, Italian trends prevailed across Europe, by 1750 it was the primary musical language. The genre of the [[Madrigal]], born in Italy, gained popularity in Britain and elsewhere. Several Italian cities were "larger on the musical map than their real-size for power suggested. Florence, was once such city which experienced a fantastic period in the early seventeenth Century of musico-theatrical innovation, including the beginning and flourishing of opera.<ref name="Hanning, Barbara Russano 2010. pg. 182">Hanning, Barbara Russano, J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. Concise History of Western Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. pg. 182.</ref>

Opera was invented in Florence in the late 16th century when [[Jacopo Peri]]'s ''[[Dafne]]'' an opera in the style of [[monody]], was premiered. Opera spread from Florence throughout Italy and eventually Europe. Vocal Music in the choir setting was also taking new identity at this time. At the beginning of the 17th century, two practices for writing music were devised, one the first practice or ''[[Prima pratica|Stile Antico]]/Prima Prattica'' the other the ''[[Stile Moderno]]/Seconda Prattica''. The Stile Antico was more prevalent in Northern Europe and Stile Moderno was practiced more by the Italian Composers of the time.<ref>Grout, Donald Jay, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1973.</ref> The piano was invented in Florence in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. Composers and musicians who have lived in Florence include Piero Strozzi (1550 – after 1608), Giulio Caccini (1551–1618) and Mike Francis (1961–2009). Giulio Caccini's book ''Le Nuove Musiche'' was significant in performance practice technique instruction at the time.<ref name="Hanning, Barbara Russano 2010. pg. 182"/> The book specified a new term, in use by the 1630s, called [[monody]] which indicated the combination of voice and [[basso continuo]] and connoted a practice of stating text in a free, lyrical, yet speech-like manner. This would occur while an instrument, usually a keyboard type such as [[harpsichord]], played and held chords while the singer sang/spoke the monodic line.<ref>Bonds, Mark E., Etd. Kassell, Richard (2010). A History of Music in Western Culture. Combined Volume. 3rd edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. {{ISBN|978-0-205-64531-2}}.</ref>