This Italian composer, singer and lutenist was employed at the court of Mantua for approximately 30 years; the geographical dispersal of his compositions was much more far-reaching. The majority of Cara's compositions were secular (songs accompanied by lute with intablature) and he was the primary composer of the frotolla (a copendium song-type that includes the sonnet, and ode). The rhythms in his works were the same throughout and his style was dominated by northern Italy (i.e., melodies were most often -- if not always -- carried by the soprano). Cara's scoring of the middle voices, however, was quite polyphonic. ~ Keith Johnson