Born in the northern Italian coastal town of Chioggia about 1555, organist and composer Paolo Quagliati played a part historically in having transplanted to Rome the Florentine recitative style and developing it in the direction of a concertato style of several voices with instruments. Brought back to life after almost 400 years, his La Sfera armoniosa (1623) is composed of 25 numbers with texts for the most part by Battista Guarini. The music, composed entirely by Quagliati but for two villanellas by Stefano Landi, reflects the staid Italian academic and emerging modern styles of the time.