Tradition and "Modernity" in Il Corago

Theoretical reflection, especially as related to early opera, took on particular importance in Italian aesthetics in the period from 1624 to the early 1640's. During this brief time, theorists and critics of different cultural stamp — among them Doni, Giustiniani, the anonymous author of Il corago, and Delia Valle — espoused certain ideas that function as particularly important markers in the demarcation of a rapidly changing phenomenology of taste. II corago, a manual-like compendium on staging, was probably written in the 1630's, and in spite its clearly pragmatic aims does not totally avoid theoretical reflection. It enunciates certain premisses designed to define the epistemological status of the dramma in musica. The indubitable originality of Il corago is characterized by its outlining of a structural relationship between language and music, where poetic choices condition the composer's contributions in all directions. Further on, the treatise outlines a plan in which the various articulatory segments of theatrical discourse are arranged so as to temper the needs of rappresentazione with those of staging, of variety, and indeed of artifice.