The reason why opera became the preeminent musical form of the seventeenth century not only in Venice but also throughout Europe lies in the profound changes among European elites at the time, particularly regarding notions of nobility and individual roles within family strategies. The lyricism of operatic music became the ideal vehicle to express the era's social transformations.

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© 2005 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Inc.
2005
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