Introduction

Abstract

From chants to chance—from Ambrose to Berio—the history of Italian music is a long and illustrious one. Much has been surmised and more conjectured about Greco-Roman music as far back as the singing of Etruscan herdsmen in the eighth century B.C.; but only with the decline of the Roman Empire and the codification of Christian chant do we begin to have a clearly documented and well-defined record of musical development. Although the final evolution of the so-called Gregorian chant took place outside of Italy, there can be no doubt as to Rome’s fundamental contribution to its existence. By the Middle Ages, however, Italy was completely outranked by France, where polyphony reigned supreme until the end of the thirteenth century.