ABSTRACT
Through the figure of his beloved, Laura, the poet succeeds in associating the poetic laurel, classical mythology, nature, love and beauty. This poetic tradition, as absorbed into the pastoral dramas, alongside a desire to perpetuate the classical theatre, forms the literary basis of the new art-form which developed at the courts of Florence and Mantua at the close of the sixteenth century, and in the early years of the seventeenth century. As interest spread from Florence to neighbouring towns and cities, principally Mantua, the association and co-ordination of words and music became increasingly significant. However, the Florentine, Mantuan and Roman court operas were at all times aristocratic affairs, initiated and organized for the instruction and entertainment of the invited nobility. The work was performed in Florence, in the home of Jacopo Corsi, with great success; it was equally successfully reset in 1608 with music by Marco da Gagliano.
