A kind of dance song developed by Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi in Mantova.
In 1591 he published a book of balletti that was reprinted more than 20 times. These pieces were quite influential, and were imitated by Hans Leo Hassler in Germany and Thomas Morley in England, who called his pieces “Balletts.”. When Viadana published his 8-part sinfonias named after 18 Italian cities, his La Mantovana was based on one of Gasolti’s balletti. Morley’s balletts can be found in 5 Balletts ↣ and Balletts II ↣, Gastoldi’s balletti in 8 Balletti (1596) ↣ and 7 Balletti (1596) ↣.