The seventeenth century can be considered the height of the “early modern period,” a useful term that reminds us what a transformative moment this was in Western cultural history. New technologies were emerging, our modern economic system was developing, and the earth was no longer at the center of the universe. Among these cultural revolutions was one in music, as composers invented a nuove musiche, or stile moderno. This self-consciously “modern” music delighted in dramatic oppositions and vivid emotional statements, in striking contrast to the smooth tapestry of Renaissance polyphony. Early Moderns is an examination of this modern music, bringing to life the extravagant and sumptuous sonatas which were created first by virtuoso instrumental composers in Italy, and then taken up in Germany.