In the period following the brilliant blossoming of polyphonic art in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Low Countries were relegated to little more than a musical province of Italy and France. Starting from ca. 1600, the Low Countries ceased to play the leading role on the western European musical scene: from this moment on, composers fromother countries would dictate the leading fashions of the day, the innovative tendencies of which gradually permeated the musical life of the region. Among the most remarkable of these innovations was ‘accompanied monody’: polyphony’s complex interplay of independent yet intertwined voices gave way to the domination of one single voice, supported by an instrumental bass part, the ‘basso continuo’. This bass part was often performed by several instruments, including those which could play chords — such as the lute, harpsichord or organ — and others — such as the viola da gamba, cello or bassoon — which carried the melody.