Giulio Caccini
By 1579, Caccini was singing at the Medici court. He was a tenor, and he was able to accompany himself on the viol or the archlute; he sang at weddings and other important occasions. He worked closely with the Florentine Camerata, a famous group of people who met at the home of Count Giovanni de' Bardi, and tried to bring the tradition of Greek dramatic music back to life. They liked monody, which means a tune with a simple accompaniment. This was different from polyphony in which several things are being sung at once. Monody made it easy to tell a story because the words could be heard clearly. This was necessary for opera, where it became heard in a simple form called recitative.