Adriano Banchieri

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Adriano Banchieri (September 3, 1568 – 1634) was an Italy composer, music theory, organ (music)ist and poet of the late Renaissance music and early Baroque music eras. He founded the Accademia dei Floridi in Bologna. He was born and died in Bologna. In 1587 he became a monk of the Benedictine order, taking his vows in 1590, and changing his name to Adriano (from Tomaso).

One of his teachers at the monastery was Gioseffo Guami, who was formative on his style. Like Orazio Vecchi he was interested in converting the madrigal (music) to dramatic purposes. Specifically, he was one of the developers of a form called madrigal comedy — unstaged but dramatic collections of madrigals which, when sung consecutively, told a story.

Formerly, madrigal comedy was considered to be one of the important precursors to opera, but most music scholars now see it as a separate development, part of a general interest in Italy at the time in creating musico-dramatic forms. In addition, he was an important composer of canzonettas, a lighter and hugely popular alternative to the madrigal in the late 16th century.

remember to fact-check the following 1911 statement > Banchieri disapproved of the monody with all their revolutionary harmonic tendencies, about which he expressed himself vigorously in his Moderna Practica Musicale (1613), while systematizing the legitimate use of the monodic art of thorough-bass.