Stile concertato

The stile concertato (Italian: [ˈstiːle kontʃerˈtaːto], lit. 'concerted style') is a style of early Baroque music in which groups of instruments or voices share a melody, usually in alternation, and almost always over a basso continuo. The word concertato is the past participle of the Italian verb concertare meaning ‘to agree, act together’, from the Latin verb concertare originally meaning “to contend or strive”. A somewhat oversimplified, but useful distinction between stile concertato and concerto can be made: the stile concertato involves contrast between opposing groups of voices and groups of instruments: the concerto style, especially as it developed into the concerto grosso later in the Baroque, involves contrast between large and small groups of similar composition (later called "ripieno" and "concertino"). The style developed in Venice in the late 16th century, mainly through the work of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, who were working in the unique acoustical space of St Mark's Basilica.