Cantata-writing in Italy reached its highest point in A. Scarlatti and seems to have been, for a period extending, roughly speaking, from 1650 to 1750, almost the only form of vocal music used for private or chamber purposes. As Parry points out, ‘it is certainly creditable to the taste of the prosperous classes that a branch of art which had such distinguished qualities should have been so much in demand; for the standard of style, notwithstanding obvious defects, is always high.’[55] But the decline in the standards of opera had an inevitable effect on the character of its closely allied form, the chamber-cantata. Though composers continued industriously to employ it, the finest examples are to be found among the composers already mentioned. In addition to the above, Giovanni Battista Bassani (about 1657-1716) published numerous cantatas on love themes for one, two, or three voices with instruments and maintained a noble style in both vocal and instrumental parts, his handling of the instrumental parts being distinctly an advance over previous composers. It is to be noted that few, if any, distinguishing or personal marks can be discovered in the works of the various Italian composers of this period, particularly those whose names follow. All say the same elegant, suave things in much the same elegant, suave manner. Francesco Gasparini (1668-1727) had such a high reputation in his time that Alessandro Scarlatti sent his son, Domenico, to study with him. Later a curious rivalry sprang up between Gasparini and the elder Scarlatti, which took the strange guise of a cantata-correspondence in which each sought to puzzle and outdo the other. Gasparini’s fame, however, rested on a treatise upon accompaniment, published in 1708, which remained a standard work in Italy until well along in the nineteenth century. Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739), celebrated for his settings of 50 psalms for one, two, three, and four voices with accompaniment, published 26 cantatas for different voices with accompaniment for various instruments. The Royal Library at Dresden contains copies of two of his cantatas--_Timotheus_, to his own Italian translation of Dryden’s poem, and _Cassandra_--both of which were famous in their time. Emanuele Astorga (1681-1736) is remembered now almost entirely by his beautiful cantatas for solo voices (soprano or contralto), of which about 100 are extant, and for two voices, all with accompaniment in figured bass for the harpsichord. Ten of these duets (for soprano and contralto) are published in Peters’ Edition and also by Leuckhart with accompaniment arranged for pianoforte.