This chapter and the four that follow undertake a general and concise study of a number of Zerafa's works, and are organised according to medium (that is, vocal scoring and instrumentation), starting with the works a due cori and concluding with those for voices and organ/continuo only. A number of parameters have been chosen for this study: among them, (a) analysis of motifs, melody and phrase structure, harmony, rhythm and metre, texture etc; (b) treatment of topics such as the French Overture style, the Pastorale, the stile antico and stile moderno etc; (c) genre, as defined by function within the Roman Catholic service; (d) the Latin and Italian texts used in Zerafa's works, in order to ascertain the meanings and connotations brought out by word-painting; (e) form and structure; and (f) stylistic aspects, as revealed by a comparison of Zerafa' compositional style with that of contemporary Neapolitan composers. The results achieved will aid understanding of the characteristics of Zerafa's galant style – a style framed within a broader picture involving all the various influences that define it.

The techniques adopted by the composer in the composition of sacred vocal music for the main services practised in the Cathedral (the most important being Vespers and the Mass) usually fell into three classes: (i) full-voiced, syllabic, choral declamation (occasionally double choir), with no special emphasis being given to the verses; (ii) an openly madrigalian style represented by few-voiced pieces with Basso continuo; and (iii) stile concertato, which involves a choir (or choirs), soloists, and orchestra/s, in which each verse receives individual treatment (multisectional, with a number of arias). Among the three, the concertato style (iii) was an especially important dimension of baroque compositional practice, in which vocal and instrumental forces were combined and contrasted. By the advent of the Late Baroque, the advance in tonal thinking had a direct bearing on the timescale of the orchestral and concerted type of Mass (and psalm) composition.

As individual sections of the Mass became longer and more complex, composers often set only the ‘Kyrie’ and ‘Gloria’ (occasionally also the ‘Credo’) for ordinary, practical services.