Having once for all instituted a rational and permanent foundation for obtaining solidity of tone combined with facility of execution, it was a matter of course that the brass should ultimately appear in more logical proportion to the strings. The progress of the wood-wind was of slower growth, largely due to technical imperfections and mechanical difficulties of performance. But, considering the means at his disposal, a commendable appreciation for contrasted groups of instruments is embodied in the pages of his later works,--indeed, already in "Orfeo" can be traced this tendency to enhance the dramatic situation by means of judicious tone-coloring. Oft-quoted illustrations are the accompaniment of Pluto's songs by four trombones, the lament of Orpheus by bass viols, the chorus of spirits by _organi di legno_. And in his riper works, intelligent instrumentation and characteristic orchestration progress simultaneously. The introduction of the _tremolo_, _pizzicato_, and other dramatic and expressive devices is attributed to him. He showed some system of scoring, which included more specific instructions for the performers than had hitherto been the custom.[3] And the fact that he distinguished between vocal and instrumental effects is of historic value in that it paved the way for the advent of purely orchestral composition.[4] [Footnote 3: Ex. 1.] [Footnote 4: Monteverde's admitted position at the dawn of orchestration constitutes so vast a point of departure in scientific method, that the unprejudiced writer of to-day must, toward Monteverde rather than toward anyone else, weigh and sift opinions as to his intention, however much these opinions combat each other. The statements of the present writer that Monteverde was the first to suggest instrumental characterization in his music--the same being evidenced in the scores that have come down to us--are supported by the majority of investigators. There are, however, others who have followed the same trail and whose conclusions are as worthy of future credence. These declare that it is only a fantastic conceit, which grew out of the circumstance that in the list of characters and instruments in the prefatory matter of the score of Monteverde's "Orfeo," there is a chance association like Pluto's name standing opposite the trombones, etc., which, falsely reasoned, has placed Monteverde in an epoch-making niche where he should not be.] II.