Polyphonic music of every sort had now to go for a while; monodic music was coming in.
"Haydn"
John F. Runciman
They seem richer in themes than the others, partly because the themes are bigger, partly because they are more perfectly adapted to monodic, harmonic treatment, and out of every bar something is made.
"Haydn"
John F. Runciman
At the same time the evidence is conclusive that the madrigal was acquiring general popularity as a form of dramatic music, and the madrigal drama reached the zenith of its glory at the very moment when its fate was preparing in the experiments of Galilei and others in the new monodic style destined to become the basis of modern Italian opera.
"Some Forerunners of Italian Opera"
William James Henderson