This Element links intercultural musical understanding in the present to the reconsideration of the history of Western music from a global perspective. It examines the compositional style of composer Claudio Monteverdi from the perspective of Karnatik music of South India through the complementary methodological lenses of historical and comparative musicology and features a critical analysis of vocal ornamentation and technique, using theory and artistic research. The outcomes include an innovative approach to studying musics from the past, a decahedral framework of hybridity between early opera and Karnatik music, and practice-based vocal enactments of hybridity, as both process and artistic product of the plurality. The research design harks back to a historical time in early modern Europe, wherein a borderless mobility of musicians from the East paved the way to an unprecedented plurality of musical cultures, and holds deep implications for diversity in and decolonisation of current music performance and education.