Up to 1587 the leading instrument of the orchestra was the Cornetto (German ‘Zinke,’ an instrument of wood, not of metal). The earliest instance where the Cornetto alternates with the violins in taking the lead and where a part was inserted especially for _violino_ is to be found in _Concerto di Andrea e Giovanni Gabrieli--per voci e strumenti musicali_, 1587. Some of G. Gabrieli’s compositions, however, are still in vocal style, but some are decidedly instrumental in character, as we may see from the following illustrations. [Illustration: Music score] and [Illustration: Music score] [Illustration: Music score] From a Sonata à 3 (1615). and [Illustration: Music score]] (Note the last example, where the intentional contrast between _piano_ and _forte_ is distinctly indicated.) In 1593 Florentino Maschera, one of the celebrated organists of his time, published a book of ‘Songs to play’ (_Canzoni a sonar_). The work consisted of seventy-one pieces which had family names for their titles, a custom that was often repeated in the first half of the sixteenth century. It is important to note that these pieces were printed in separate parts, so that they may be considered as the first specimens of independent though not direct writing for the violin. These _canzoni_ were vocal in character and there was little that suggested instrumental technique. The style was that of the vocal compositions of the time--contrapuntal. A genuine and daring innovator in the field of violin music was Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), who in some violin passages went up as high as the fifth position. Besides broadening the technique of the left hand, he demanded tremolos for dramatic effects in accompanying recitative: [Illustration: Music score]