stile moderno

noun

sti·​le mo·​der·​no ˈstē-lā-mō-ˈder-nō 

: the innovative style of 17th-century musical composition in Europe characterized especially by the use of monody (see monody sense 4a), continuo, and relative freedom of dissonance treatment

Thus a simple declamatory or recitative style, commonly referred to as the stile moderno, was eventually employed for the narratives and the dialogues between the protagonists.

—Nancy Kovaleff Baker and Barbara Russano Hanning, Musical Humanism and Its Legacy, 1992

compare stile antico

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

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