Italian opera "Dafne" by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. Peri's works, however, did not arise out of a creative vacuum in the area of sung drama. An underlying prerequisite for the creation of opera proper was the practice of monody. Monody is the solo singing/setting of a dramatically conceived melody, designed to express the emotional content of the text it carries, which is accompanied by a relatively simple sequence of chords rather than other polyphonic parts. Italian composers began composing in this style late in the 16th century, and it grew in part from the long-standing
The Red Peri ice. There, Keene rescues his captor from a swarm of "crystal crawlers". When Keene's toe falls prey to one of them, the Red Peri quickly cuts off the infected area. While treating Keene's toe, the Red Peri reveals that she is the daughter of Perry Maclane, an inventor who was cheated out of his patent by Interplanetary, Inc. Swearing revenge, Maclane built the "Red Peri", crewed it with others who had also been wronged by the company, and began preying on its spaceships. When the elder Maclane died three years ago, Peri took his place. Her ultimate plan is to