Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the
Venetian School, at the time of the shift from
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
to
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
idioms.
Biography
Gabrieli was born in Venice. He was one of five children, and his father came from the region of
Carnia and went to Venice shortly before Giovanni's birth. While not much is known about Giovanni's early life, he probably studied with his uncle, the composer
Andrea Gabrieli
Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533Bryant, Grove online – August 30, 1585) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Ven ...
, who was employed at
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...
from the 1560s until his death in 1585. Giovanni may indeed have been brought up by his uncle, as is implied by the dedication to his 1587 book of concerti, in which he described himself as "little less than a son" to his uncle.
[Bryant, Grove online]
Giovanni also went to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
to study with the renowned
Orlando de Lassus at the court of
Duke Albert V; most likely he stayed there until about 1579. Lassus was to be one of the principal influences on the development of his musical style.
By 1584 he had returned to Venice, where he became principal organist at
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...
in 1585, after
Claudio Merulo
Claudio Merulo (; 8 April 1533 – 4 May 1604) was an Italian composer, publisher and organist of the late Renaissance period, most famous for his innovative keyboard music and his ensemble music composed in the Venetian polychoral style. He wa ...
left the post; following his uncle's death the following year he took the post of principal composer as well. Also after his uncle's death he began editing much of the older man's music, which would otherwise have been lost; Andrea evidently had had little inclination to publish his own music, but Giovanni's opinion of it was sufficiently high that he devoted much of his own time to compiling and editing it for publication.
Gabrieli's career rose further when he took the additional post of organist at the
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a building in Venice, northern Italy. It is noted for its collection of paintings by Tintoretto and generally agreed to include some of his finest work.
History
The building is the seat of a confraternity establ ...
, another post he retained for his entire life. San Rocco was the most prestigious and wealthy of all the Venetian confraternities, and second only to San Marco itself in the splendor of its musical establishment. Some of the most renowned singers and instrumentalists in Italy performed there and a vivid description of its musical activity survives in the travel memoirs of the English writer
Thomas Coryat
Thomas Coryat (also Coryate) (c. 15771617) was an English traveller and writer of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean age. He is principally remembered for two volumes of writings he left regarding his travels, often on foot, through ...
. Much of his music was written specifically for that location,
although he probably composed even more for San Marco.
San Marco had a long tradition of musical excellence and Gabrieli's work there made him one of the most noted composers in Europe. The vogue that began with his influential volume ''Sacrae symphoniae'' (1597) was such that composers from all over Europe, especially from Germany, came to Venice to study. Evidently he also instructed his new pupils to study the
madrigal
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance music, Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque music, Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The Polyphony, polyphoni ...
s being written in Italy, so not only did they carry back the grand
Venetian polychoral style
The Venetian polychoral style was a type of music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras which involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation. It represented a major stylistic shift from the prevailing polyphonic writing of the ...
to their home countries, but also the more intimate style of madrigals;
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...
and others helped transport the transitional early Baroque music north to Germany, a trend that decisively affected subsequent music history. The productions of the German Baroque, culminating in the music of
J.S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
, were founded on this strong tradition, which had its roots in Venice.
Gabrieli was increasingly ill after about 1606, at which time church authorities began to appoint deputies to take over duties he could no longer perform. He died in 1612 in Venice, of complications from a
kidney stone
Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...
.
Music and style
![Gabrieli Canzon Septimi Toni 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Gabrieli_Canzon_Septimi_Toni_01.png)
Though Gabrieli composed in many of the forms current at the time, he preferred sacred vocal and instrumental music. All of his secular vocal music is relatively early in his career; he never wrote lighter forms, such as dances; and later he concentrated on sacred vocal and instrumental music that exploited sonority for maximum effect. Among the innovations credited to him – and while he was not always the first to use them, he was the most famous of his period to do so – were dynamics; specifically notated instrumentation (as in the famous ''
Sonata pian' e forte''); and massive forces arrayed in multiple, spatially separated groups, an idea which was to be the genesis of the Baroque
concertato
Concertato is a term in early Baroque music referring to either a ''genre'' or a ''style'' of music in which groups of instruments or voices share a melody, usually in alternation, and almost always over a basso continuo. The term derives from ...
style, and which spread quickly to northern Europe, both by the report of visitors to Venice and by Gabrieli's students, which included
Hans Leo Hassler
Hans Leo Hassler (in German, Hans Leo Haßler) (baptized 26 October 1564 – 8 June 1612) was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of less known composer Jakob Hassler. He was born in Nür ...
and
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...
.
Like composers before and after him, he would use the unusual layout of the San Marco church, with its two choir lofts facing each other, to create striking spatial effects. Most of his pieces are written so that a
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
or instrumental group will first be heard on one side, followed by a response from the musicians on the other side; often there was a third group situated on a stage near the main altar in the center of the church. While this
polychoral
An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominently ...
style had been extant for decades (
Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert ( – 7 December 1562) was a Flemish composer of High Renaissance music. Mainly active in Italy, he was the founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers ...
may have made use of it first, at least in Venice), Gabrieli pioneered the use of carefully specified groups of instruments and singers, with precise directions for instrumentation, and in more than two groups. The acoustics were and are such in the church that instruments, correctly positioned, could be heard with perfect clarity at distant points. Thus instrumentation which looks strange on paper, for instance a single string player set against a large group of brass instruments, can be made to sound, in San Marco, in perfect balance. A fine example of these techniques can be seen in the scoring of
In Ecclesiis
''In Ecclesiis'' is one of Giovanni Gabrieli's most famous single works. An example of polychoral techniques, it also epitomizes Baroque and Renaissance styles, with its use of hexachord-based harmonies, chromatic mediants, movement by fifths, ...
.
Gabrieli's first motets were published alongside his uncle Andrea's compositions in his 1587 volume of ''Concerti''. These pieces show much influence of his uncle's style in the use of dialogue and echo effects.
[Arnold, Grove (1980)] There are low and high choirs and the difference between their pitches is marked by the use of instrumental accompaniment. The motets published in Giovanni's 1597 ''Sacrae Symphoniae'' seem to move away from this technique of close antiphony towards a model in which musical material is not simply echoed, but developed by successive choral entries. Some motets, such as ''Omnes Gentes'' developed the model almost to its limits. In these motets, instruments are an integral part of the performance, and only the choirs marked "Capella" are to be performed by singers for each part.
There seems to be a distinct change in Gabrieli's style after 1605, the year of publication of
Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...
's ''Quinto libro di madrigali'', and Gabrieli's compositions are in a much more
homophonic
In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ...
style as a result. There are sections purely for instruments – called "Sinfonia" – and small sections for soloists singing florid lines, accompanied simply by a
basso continuo
Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
. "Alleluia" refrains provide refrains within the structure, forming rondo patterns in the motets, with close dialogue between choirs and soloists.
In particular, one of his best-known pieces, ''
In Ecclesiis
''In Ecclesiis'' is one of Giovanni Gabrieli's most famous single works. An example of polychoral techniques, it also epitomizes Baroque and Renaissance styles, with its use of hexachord-based harmonies, chromatic mediants, movement by fifths, ...
'', is a showcase of such polychoral techniques, making use of four separate groups of instrumental and singing performers, underpinned by the omnipresent organ and
continuo.
Works
Concerti (1587)
'Concerti di Andrea, et di Giovanni Gabrieli, organisti della Serenissima Signori di Venetia': A collection of 77 works, the majority of which are by the uncle,
Andrea Gabrieli
Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533Bryant, Grove online – August 30, 1585) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Ven ...
, but also containing some of the younger Gabrieli's polychoral motets.
*9.) Inclina Domine aurem a 6
*19.) Ego dixi Domine a 7
*33.) O magnum mysterium a 8
*37.) Deus meus ad te de luce a 10
*40.) Angelus ad pastores ait a 12
*77.) Sacri di Giove augei a 12
Sacrae Symphoniae (1597)
A collection of: 45 motets for 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15 or 16 voices; 14 canzonas in 8, 10, 12 or 15 musical lines; and two sonatas, one in 8 musical lines, the other in 12.
# Motet "Cantate Domino" a 6, Ch.6
# Exaudi Domine, justitiam meam, Ch.7
# Motet "Beata es virgo Maria" a 6, Ch.8
# Motet "Miserere mei Deus" (Psalm 51) a 6, Ch.9
# O quam suavis est, Domine, Ch.10
# Benedixisti Domine terram tuam, Ch.11
# Motet "Exaudi Deus orationem meam" (Psalm 55) a 7, Ch.12
# Motet "Sancta Maria succurre miseris" a 7, Ch.13
# O Domine Jesu Christe, Ch.14
# Domine exaudi orationem meam, Ch.15
# Jubilate Deo, omnis terr, Ch.16
# Misericordias Domin, Ch.17
# Beati immaculati, Ch.18
# Laudate nomen Domini, Ch.19
# Jam non-dicam vos servos, Ch.20
# Beati omnes, Ch.21
# Domine, Dominus noster, Ch.22
# Angelus Domini descendit, Ch.23
# Motet "O Jesu mi dulcissime" a 8, Ch.24
# Motet "Sancta et immaculata virginitas" a 8, Ch.25
# Diligam te, Domine, Ch.26
# Exultate justi in Domino, Ch.27
# Hoc tegitur, Ch.28
# Ego sum qui sum, Ch.29
# In te Domine speravi, Ch.30
# Jubilemus singuli, Ch.31
# Magnificat, Ch.32
# Canzon per sonar primi toni a 8, Ch.170
# Canzon per sonar septimi toni a 8, Ch.171
# Canzon per sonar septimi toni a 8, Ch.172
# Canzon per sonar noni toni a 8, Ch.173
# Canzon per sonar duodecimi toni a 8, Ch.174
# Sonata pian e forte, Ch.175
# Benedicam Dominum, Ch.33
# Domine exaudi orationem meam, Ch.34
# Motet "Maria virgo" a 10, Ch.35
# Motet "Deus qui beatum Marcum" a 10, Ch.36
# Surrexit Pastor bonus, Ch.37
# Judica me, Domine, Ch.38
# Quis est iste qui venit, Ch.39
# Motet "Hodie Christus natus est" a 10, Ch.40
# Canzon per sonar primi toni a 10, Ch.176
# Canzon per sonar duodecimi toni a 10, Ch.177
# Canzon per sonar duodecimi toni a 10, Ch.178
# Canzon per sonar duodecimi toni a 10, Ch.179
# Canzon in echo duodecimi toni à 10, Ch.180
# Canzon sudetta accommodata per concertar con l’Organo a 10, Ch.181
# Plaudite, psallite, jubilate Deo omnis terra, Ch.41
# Virtute magna, Ch.42
# Kyrie (primus), Ch.43
# Christe, Ch.44
# Kyrie (tertius), Ch.45 (Ch.43–45 are a single composition)
# Gloria, Ch.46
# Sanctus, Ch.47
# Magnificat, Ch.48
# Regina cœli, lætare, Ch.49
# Canzon per sonar septimi & octavi toni a 12, Ch.182
# Canzon per sonar noni toni a 12, Ch.183
# Sonata octavi toni a 12, Ch.184
# Nunc dimittis, Ch.50
# Jubilate Deo, omnis terra, Ch.51
# Canzon quarti toni a 15, Ch.185
# Omnes gentes plaudite manibus, Ch.52
Canzoni per sonare (1608)
A collection of 36 short works by Gabrieli,
Girolamo Frescobaldi
Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of k ...
, and others. The first four and the 27th and 28th are by Gabrieli.
* Canzon (I) a 4 "La spiritata", Ch.186
* Canzon (II) a 4, Ch.187
* Canzon (III) a 4, Ch.188
* Canzon (IV) a 4, Ch.189
* Canzon (XXVII) a 8 "Fa sol la re", Ch.190
* Canzon (XXVIII) a 8 "Sol sol la sol fa mi", Ch.191
Canzoni e Sonate (written nlt. 1612, publ. 1615)
Collection of 16
canzoni and 5
sonate for 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15 and 22 ''"voci, per sonar con ogni sorte di instrumenti, con il basso per l’organo (musical parts, to sound on all sorts of instruments, with bass by means of the organ)”''.
Published posthumously in 1615. (†)Note that numbering as published (Roman system) does not quite agree with the Charteris catalogue.
# Canzon prima (item I) a 5, Ch.195
# Canzon (II) a 6, Ch.196
# Canzon (III) a 6, Ch.197
# Canzon (IV) a 6, Ch.198
# Canzon (V) a 7, Ch.199
# Canzon (VI) a 7, Ch.200
# Canzon (VII) a 7, Ch.201
# Canzon (VIII) a 8, Ch.202
# Canzon (IX)† a 8
# Canzon (X)† a 8
# Canzon (XI)† a 8
# Canzon (XII) a 8, Ch.205
# Sonata (item XIII) a 8, Ch.206
# Canzon (item XIV) a 10, Ch.207
# Canzon (XV) a 10, Ch.208
# Canzon (XVI) a 12, Ch.209
# Canzon (XVII) a 12, Ch.210
# Sonata (item XVIII) a 14, Ch.211
# Sonata (XIX) a 15, Ch.212
# Sonata (XX) a 22, Ch.213
# Sonata (XXI) per tre violini e basso (a 4), Ch.214
Sacrae Symphoniae II (written nlt. 1612, publ. 1615)
''Sacrae symphoniae Liber secundus''. Published posthumously in 1615.
# Exultavit cor meum
# Congratulamini mihi
# Ego dixi Domine
# Sancta et immaculata
# O Jesu mi dulcissime
# Hodie completi sunt
# O quam suavis
# Deus in nomine tuo
# Attendite popule meus
# Cantate Domino
# Benedictus es Dominus
# Litania Beatae Mariae Virginis
# Deus Deus meus
# Vox Domini
# Iubilate Deo
# Motet "Surrexit Christus" a 11, Ch.66
# Exaudi Deus
# O gloriosa virgo
# Misericordia tua Domine
# Suscipe clementissime Deus
# Kyrie
# Sanctus
# Magnificat 12 vocum
# Confitebor tibi Domine
# Motet "Quem vidistis pastores" a 14
# Motet "In ecclesiis" a 14
# Magnificat 14 vocum
# Salvator noster
# O quam gloriosa
# Exaudi me Domine
# Magnificat 17 vocum
# Buccinate
References
Further reading
*Arnold, Denis. ''Giovanni Gabrieli and the Music of the Venetian High Renaissance.'' London: Oxford University Press, 1979.
*Arnold, Denis. ''Monteverdi.'' London, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1975.
*Arnold, Denis. "Giovanni Gabrieli," in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.
*Bartlett, Clifford & Holman, Peter. ''Giovanni Gabrieli: A Guide to the Performance of His Instrumental Music''. In Early Music, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan. 1975), pp. 25–32.
*Bryant, David. "Gabrieli, Giovanni." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40693 (accessed 22 September 2009).
*
Bukofzer, Manfred. ''Music in the Baroque Era''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947.
*Charteris, Richard. ''Giovanni Gabrieli (ca. 1555–1612): a Thematic Catalogue of his Music with a Guide to the Source Materials and Translations of his Vocal Texts''. New York, 1996.
*Grout, Donald Jay. ''A History of Western Music''. W.W. Norton & Co., 1980.
*Kenton, Egon. ''Life and Works of Giovanni Gabrieli''.
American Institute of Musicology
The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions ...
, 1967 (Armen Carapetyen).
*Ongaro, Giulio, et al. "Venice." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/41311 (accessed 22 September 2009).
*
Reese, Gustave. ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.
*Selfridge-Field, Eleanor,''Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi.'' New York, Dover Publications, 1994.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrieli, Giovanni
1550s births
1612 deaths
17th-century Italian composers
16th-century Venetian people
17th-century Venetian people
Renaissance composers
Venetian School (music) composers
Italian Baroque composers
Italian classical musicians
Italian male classical composers
Burials at Santo Stefano (church)
Pupils of Andrea Gabrieli
Pupils of Orlande de Lassus
17th-century male musicians