jan 1, 1593 - Cento concerti ecclesiastici

Description:

by a north Italian friar named Lodovico Viadana, which contains the first printed example of a continuous bass line-- basso continuo!

"This extraordinarily important innovation had radical implications: For the first time in "composed" music, the literate tradition we are tracing in this book, chordal harmony functioned as a sonorous filler or background, independent of controlled part writing. In effect, the notated line was to be played by the left hand and the unnotated chords by the right. It was called "continuous" because it played throughout the composition, no matter what went on above it. Such a semi-improvised organ part would later be played by all kinds of keyboard instruments as well as by plucked instruments such as the lute.

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