The judges were hamadryads and the defeated mortals were punished for their presumption.

The text was by Rinuccini and the music by Luca Marenzio, the famous madrigalist.

The contesting singers were accompanied by lutes and viols, while their judges had the support of harps, lyres, viols and other instruments of the same family.
Bardi himself devised the third intermezzo, Rinuccini wrote the verse and Bardi and Marenzio the music.

It had some of the essential features of both ballet and opera and represented the victory of Apollo over the python.

The god descended from the skies to the music of viols, flutes and trombones.