CAVALLI, FRANCESCO (1602-1676), an early Italian operatic composer of note, was born at Crema in 1602. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron, a Venetian nobleman. He became a singer at St. Mark's in Venice in 1617, second organ ist in 1639, first organist in 1665, and in 1668 maestro di cappella. He is, however, chiefly important for his operas, twenty-seven of which are still extant, most of them being preserved in the library of St. Mark's at Venice. Monteverde had found opera a musico literary experiment, and left it a magnificent dramatic spectacle. Cavalli succeeded in making it a popular entertainment. He reduced Monteverde's extravagant orchestra to more practical limits, introduced melodious arias into his music and popular types into his libretti. His operas have all the characteristic exaggerations and absurdities of the 17th century, but they have also a remarkably strong sense of dramatic effect as well as a great musical facility, and a grotesque humour which was char acteristic of Italian grand opera down to the death of Alessandro Scarlatti.