Galilei, Vincenzo (c. 1520–1591)

Italian composer, theorist, and lutenist. He took part in the discussions which, after his death, helped transform the Florentine camerata into opera; he also wrote theoretical books. Galilei upheld Greek drama against the contemporary madrigal, becoming involved in controversy with his teacher, Gioseffo Zarlino. He was the father of the astronomer Galileo Galilei.

Works cantata Il conte Ugolino from Dante, a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah (both lost, and both among the earliest music for a single voice with accompaniment); two books of madrigals; pieces for two viols; a lute book in tablature; Dialogo della musica antica et della moderna (1581).