Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli

Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533 – August 30, 1585) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. His nephew was the better known Giovanni Gabrieli, (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) also a composer and organist. Both were members of the Venetian School, the name given to Italian composers of the later Renaissance working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610 and used as a collective term for their work.

Andrea Gabrieli

Venetian School

The rise of Venice as a musical centre was in part political. After the death of Pope Leo X in 1521 and the Sack of Rome in 1527, many musicians either moved elsewhere or chose not to go to Rome, and Venice was one of several places to have a creative environment and the existence of St Mark's Basilica in Venice also attracted many composers. The unique interior of the basilica with opposing choir lofts and spacious architecture required a compositional style which exploited sound delay; so the Venetian polychoral style was developed. This grand antiphonal style, in which groups of singers and instruments played sometimes in opposition, sometimes together united by the sound of the organ was the hallmark of the Venetian School's composers of sacred music.

Andrea Gabrieli was the first internationally renowned member of the Venetian School, and was influential in spreading the Venetian style through Italy and into Germany. In 1562 he travelled to Bavaria, meeting Orlande de Lassus, who was widely considered one of the three most influential musicians of the sixteenth century (along with Victoria and Palestrina) and an expert in polyphonic composition. Both musicians benefitted from this connection and Andrea took numerous compositional ideas back to Venice. Andrea was appointed organist at St Mark's in 1566, one of the most prestigious musical posts in northern Italy at the time and continued composing, although the majority of his work remained unpublished at the time.  

Missa Brevis in F by Andrea Gabrieli 

Andrea taught his nephew Giovanni, who went on to eclipse him as one of the most influential musicians of his time. Giovanni also studied under Orlande de Lassus and was appointed organist at St. Mark's in 1584.  After his uncle's death in 1586 Giovanni was appointed principal composer but spent a considerable amount of his time editing his uncle's work for publication. Much of Giovanni's own compositions were written for the Scuolo Grande di San Rocco (second only to San Marco in terms of prestige in Venice) where he was also appointed organist, a post he held until his death. 

Giovanni Gabrieli

Giovanni's first published works were alongside his uncle's in a volume called "Concerti" in 1587, and show a strong influence of the older man's style of antiphonal composition with two choirs alternating in dominance, with the use of echo and pitch variation. However by the time "Sacrae Symphoniae" was published in 1597 there is a clear shift towards more developed choral entries, such as in Omnes Gentes. Monteverdi seems to have had a strong influence on the composer, since after 1605 there is a clear change of direction to a more homophonic style, featuring the instrumental sections present in the Sacrae Symphoniae with vocal solos. "In Ecclesiis" is one of his best-known pieces, a showcase of such polychoral techniques, making use of four separate groups of instrumental and singing performers, underpinned by an organ and continuo accompaniment throughout.  This development in compositional style perhaps represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque styles. 

"In Ecclesiis is Giovanni Gabrieli's magnum opus and most famous single work. A masterpiece of polychoral techniques, it also epitomises Baroque and Renaissance styles, with its prolific use of pedal points and extended plagal cadences."