Epilogo: Pirrotta's Narrative of the History of Italian Music: Music and "Cultural Fashion".

The article discusses Italian musicologist Nino Pirrotta's ethnomusical vision of Italy's musical history. Topics covered include Italian music's emphasis on melody as seen in the tradition of Italian opera, theatrical performances furnished by musical genres throughout the late 15th and 16th centuries, the use of solo-singing to string accompaniment in madrigal comedy and the commedia dell'arte, and equivocation over the practice of polyphonic treatment of secular verse.