Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) was an Italian singer and composer. He composed mainly two types of songs: the strophic air and the through-composed madrigal. He served the Medici court in Florence as music director from 1600. In reaction to the polyphonic musical style of the Renaissance, he discussed his ideas for a new style of monody, accompanied solo song, in his Le nuove musiche (1602). The monodies in this publication contain expressive melodies accompanied by block chords rather than the traditional polyphony.