But it was in 1602 that he published his "Cento concerti ecclesiastici a 1, a 2, a 3, e a 4 voci, con il basso continuo per sonar nell' organo." The basso continuo had been in use for some time before this.

It appears in the score of Peri's Euridice as well as in the "Nuove Musiche" of Caccini.

It was employed in Cavaliere's "Anima e Corpo" and was doubtless utilized in some of the camerata's earlier attempts which have not come down to us.
Just which one of the Florentines devised this method of noting the chords arranged for the support of the voice in the new style matters little.

The fact remains that the fundamental principle of related chord harmonies, as distinguished from incidental accords arising in the interweavings of voice parts melodic in themselves, had been recognized and the basis of modern melodic composition established.

This, indeed, was not the achievement of the young innovators, but the result of a slow and steady development in the art of composition.