by Blue Gene TyrannyAn Italian composer of opera (Orfeo, 1607) as well as sacred and secular vocal music. Monteverdi was a significant early composer in the operatic genre. Basing his music on his interpretations of ancient texts by Greek theorists (who were greatly respected by Renaissance intellectuals), Monteverdi produced original music from the material of the prevailing Venetian styles. His music is of almost unsurpassable beauty, especially the Vespro della Beata Vergine. Monteverdo's theorizing and experimentation in developing theater-music forms led to the fundamentals of opera in the next century, his most notable work in this genre being Combattimento di Tancredi et Clorinda (1624).