1589
Emilio de Cavalieri's danced conclusion to the 1589 intermedi for Girolamo Bargagli's comedy La Pellegrina, performed at a Grand Duchess' wedding in Florence.

Iain Fenlon's essay in LdS

"On that occasion, after Bargagli's play had finished, the heavens opened to show twenty Pagan gods. Seven clouds now appeared, five of which came down to Earth while two remained above. The central cloud held Apollo, Bacchus, Harmony, and Rhythm, while on a nearby cloud stood the three Graces. The muses were placed on the remaining clouds. As these five were slowly lowered, three madrigals were sung: the first by Apollo and his group, the second by the three Graces and three of the Muses, and the third by the remaining six muses. Twenty pairs of mortals in pastoral dress now appeared, attracted by the sound; the gods descended from their clouds as they touched the Earth and, taking the mortals by the hand, taught them to dance.

The subject matter for this scene, like that of the other intermezzi from the 1589 set, are taken from Plato, and more specifically from a famous passage in the second book of the Laws which describes the gods' gift of music and dance to the human race.

...

Cavalieri's 1589 finale had indeed presented a danced (and sung) spectacle of unprecedented complexity and length by devising an ingenious set of rhythmic variations on two simple passages of music which alternated with each other

1600
Letter from Giulio Caccini (singer/composer) to a secretary of the Grand Duke of Florence

Iain Fenlon's essay in LdS

"Finding myself yesterday in the Piazza San Giovanni, numerous gentlemen told me that Most Serene Madame no longer wanted our balli of the sixth intermedio because Signor Don Grazia Montalvo had composed one to be danced by many Florentine gentlemen and this would suffice... Her Highness should be told that all the beauty was reserved for the sixth intermedio, in which Signora Ippolita, Signora Vittoria, and Melchior the bass, all three belonging to my school, sing alone, and solo, as a duo, and as a trio joining together one after the other. There is also a ballo of six ladies, sung, played and danced to instruments, that is, different from others, and then at the end there is another ballo performed by twenty or thirty dancing-masters and sung and played by sixty-four musicians. Inform her Highness that this type of sung, played, and danced ballo has always been prized above all other balli, and much more so than the Morescas performed in Mantua as I described them from an account by Signor Chiabrera, their author. Invention is more necessary than dancing-masters in producing novel balli, and since Chiabrera represented the Olympic Games in the Mantuan comedy the ballo of our sixth intermedio cannot produce this effect, for the subject matter is different. If Signor Grazia invents another, not for this will it be more beautiful than the ballo produced in Mantua, for it will destroy our ballo, which needs nothing added to it. If Most Serene Madame will recall that the ballo most praised in Mantua was the one devised by Signor Ottavio Rinuccini [the Ballo delle Ingrate] and performed outside the comedy, then she should take advantage of the present occasion and of my advice, which if ignorant is not without good intentions, so the festivities may pass with the grandeur and nobility appropriate to Their Highnesses and to the custom of the city.

[Note the implication that Morescas are commonly performed as intermezzi just prior to 1600 in Mantua, the home of the Gelosi troupe. -JAC]

1608
Michealangelo Buonaraotti's description of his intermezzo for a Medici wedding.

[Iain Fenlon's translation]