“ Peri’s Dafne (which has entirely disappeared) and Euridice (printed at Florence 1600; reprinted Venice 1608 and Florence 1863) are of the greatest importance not only as being the earliest attempts at opera, but as representing the new monodic and declamatory style which is the basis of modern music as opposed to the contrapuntal methods of Palestrina and his contemporaries. Peri’s work is of course primitive in the extreme, but it is by no means without beauty, and there are many scenes in Enridice which show a considerable dramatic power. ”