He was born in
Bari and apparently led a cosmopolitan life, at some point working at the
Polish court, and then possibly settling in
Naples. Popular among his colleagues, Rodio was a member of
Carlo Gesualdo's academy at Naples, organized a ''Camerata di Propaganda per l'Affinamento del Gusto Musicale'' together with other Neapolitan musicians, and also probably cultivated connections with Polish and
Spanish composers. Rodio's work, both in music and in music theory, was progressive for its time and shows a competent composer. His treatise
Regole di musica circulated widely both in Italy and outside its borders. Rodio's
Libro primo di ricercate (1575) is the earliest surviving keyboard music notated in score. It contains five
ricercars and four
fantasias, all marked with a highly individual harmonic language. This print, together with
Antonio Valente's
Intavolatura de cimbalo, represents the earliest works of the so-called Neapolitan school, to which later important composers such as
Ascanio Mayone and
Giovanni Maria Trabaci belonged. ==List of works==