Home > Giovanni de' Bardi

While he received an exceptional classical education, becoming proficient in Latin and Greek as well as learning the craft of music composition, his early years were largely spent as a soldier. Under Grand Duke Cosimo I of Tuscany he fought against Siena, and later he fought at the Siege of Malta (1565) against the Turks. After Malta, and now a captain, he assisted Maximilian II in defeating the Turks in Hungary. But when he was not away on military campaigns, he was busy in Florence and elsewhere as a patron of music and the arts.

Bardi is mainly famous for being host, patron, and inspiration to the group of composers, music theorists and scholars who made up the Florentine Camerata, the group which attempted to restore the aesthetic effect of ancient Greek music to contemporary practice. The group included Vincenzo Galilei (father of the astronomer Galileo), Giulio CacciniGiulio Caccini (c. 1545 December 10, 1618) was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the very late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the founders of the genre of opera, and one of the single most influential c, and Piero Strozzi , and derived its inspiration from a correspondence with Girolamo MeiGirolamo Mei ( May 27, 1519 July, 1594) was an Italian historian and humanist, famous in music history for providing the intellectual impetus to the Florentine Camerata, which attempted to revive ancient Greek music drama. He was born Florence, and died i, the foremost scholar of ancient Greek drama and music at the time. The result of the association was the invention of monodyMonody is a kind of music distinguished by having a single melodic line and accompaniment. Although such music is found in various cultures throughout history, the term is generally applied to Italian song of the early 17th century. It is contrasted with, and shortly thereafter, operaCharles Garnier's Opera, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. The drama is presented using the typical elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera,; in addition, the innovations brought to music by the Camerata under the guidance of Bardi were one of the defining characteristics of what we now know as Baroque musicBaroque music is Western classical music from the Baroque era, after the Renaissance music era and before the Classical music era proper. This roughly covers the time period from Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) through Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)..

Although he was also a composer, relatively few of his works survive: only a handful of madrigals. Curiously, he seems not to have tried his hand at the new monody himself. He also either organized or wrote parts for various intermediThe intermedio in Italian Renaissance music, is a kind of music which was performed between acts of a play. It was one of the important predecessors to opera (two of the others were monody and madrigal comedy). Intermedi were written and performed from th in Florence, the popular court entertainments which took place between the acts of spoken dramas (and which included acting, singing, dancing, and mime--thus being another important precursor to opera). He also wrote plays, including some of the plays for which he also provided the intermedi.

Vincenzo Galilei thought highly of Bardi, and dedicated his famous Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna to him. In the Dialogo, polyphonyPolyphony is a musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ( homophony). The term is usually used in reference to mus is condemned and monody is praised, and the wish expressed that the musical practice of the ancient Greeks would be restored, and the corruption of contemporary music replaced with an idealized version of the supposed music of the ancient time. Ironically, the Counter-ReformationThe Counter-Reformation or the Catholic Reformation was a strong reaffirmation of the doctrine and structure of the Catholic Church, climaxing at the Council of Trent, partly in reaction to the growth of Protestantism. Even before the posting of Martin Lu Council of Trent had just finished condemning polyphonic practice, for the same supposed fault (it was too hard to understand the sung text), but for spiritual rather than secular reasons.