# Italian language in Classical (and other) music

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-language-in-classical-and-other-music/685445>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 5, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-language-in-classical-and-other-music/685445 "2014-04-05T23:41:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-language-in-classical-and-other-music/685445/1 "2014-04-05T23:41:36Z")

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How did Italian get to be the standard language for music scores (dynamics, tempo, etc.)? And who was the first non-Italian composer to use it?

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-language-in-classical-and-other-music/685445/2 "2014-04-08T04:53:42Z")

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Bump (\*urtare, \*in italiano)

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-language-in-classical-and-other-music/685445/3 "2014-04-08T05:58:32Z")

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From what I remember from music theory class, it’s just that most of the important composers of the Renaissance were Italian, and that’s when modern notation was developed.

There’s probably a more complex answer, but I hate seeing questions left unanswered if I know even a little bit about it.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-language-in-classical-and-other-music/685445/4 "2014-04-08T06:07:05Z")

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Yeah, I was going to let someone more knowledgeable answer it, but, since no one yet has (besides **BigT** just now): it’s because Italy (or, the Italian-speaking world) was the center of music at the time such things were standardized. Opera especially was for a long time an Italian-centered art form (possibly partly because the vowelly Italian language lends itself well to that style of singing), and even non-Italian composers like Handel and Mozart wrote Italian operas.