Luigi Dentice (1510 in Naples – 1566 in Naples) was an Italian composer, musical theorist, singer and lutenist who served the powerful Sanseverino family,[1] and was father of Fabrizio Dentice (1539 – 1581), also a composer and lutenist.[2] He was grandfather of Scipione Dentice (1560–1633).
Dentice came from a noble family. When his father died in 1561 he inherited the title of Baron of Viggiano. He married Vincenza Caracciolo, who in 1566 was left a widow with two young children. In the 1550s the Dentices travelled extensively in Spain.[3] As a singer, Luigi Dentice appears to have sung as a male soprano falsettist.[4]
His main work of music theory Duo dialoghi della musica, Rome 1553, was a collection of classical Greek and Latin writings on music, translated into Italian, with Dentice's own commentary.[5] The title promises one dialogue on theory, another on practice.[6] The text is interspersed with a few comments on contemporary music and musicians.[7] It also includes Dentice's opinions on inflection in musica ficta,,[8] and the practice of monody later developed by Giulio Caccini and others.[9]