Editing Giovanni Gabrieli

{{short description|Italian composer (c1554/1557-1612)}}
{{Distinguish|Giovanni Gabrielli (actor)|Giovanni Maria Gabrielli}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
<!-- Please do not add the image from Commons -- it's not him; see the talk page; there are no known portraits of Gabrieli -->
[[File:Venezia - Santo Stefano - Tomba di Giovanni Gabrieli (1612 e 1956) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 12-Aug-2007 - 02.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Giovanni Gabrieli in [[Santo Stefano, Venice]]]]

'''Giovanni Gabrieli''' ({{Circa|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 (music)|Venetian School]], at the time of the shift from [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] to [[Baroque music|Baroque]] 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]], who was employed at [[St Mark's Basilica]] 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.<ref name="auto">Bryant, Grove online</ref>

Giovanni also went to [[Munich]] to study with the renowned [[Orlando de Lassus]] at the court of [[Albert V, Duke of Bavaria|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.<ref name="auto"/>

By 1584 he had returned to Venice, where he became principal organist at [[St Mark's Basilica]] in 1585, after [[Claudio Merulo]] 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]], 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 splendour 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]]. Much of his music was written specifically for that location,<ref name="gramo">{{Cite magazine |last=Knighton |first=Tess |year=1997 |title=G.Gabrieli Music for San Rocco (record review) |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/ggabrieli-music-for-san-rocco |magazine=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]}}</ref> 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 (music)|madrigal]]s being written in Italy, so not only did they carry back the grand [[Venetian polychoral style]] to their home countries, but also the more intimate style of madrigals; [[Heinrich Schütz]] 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 [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]], 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]].

==Music and style==
[[File:Gabrieli Canzon Septimi Toni 01.png|thumb|Canzon Septimi Toni No. 2, a piece for two antiphonal choirs of four instruments each; original instruments unspecified,<ref>{{cite book|title=Canzon septimi toni no. 2: Sacrae symphoniae, Venice, 1597, for eight-part brass choir|date=6 June 2018|oclc = 9514606}}</ref> but often played with eight [[trombones]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.indiana.edu/departments/academic/brass/areas/trombone/trombone_choir.shtml|title=Trombone Area: Brass: Academic Departments: Departments, Offices & Services: Jacobs School of Music: Indiana University Bloomington|first=IU Office of Creative Services, iuweb @|last=indiana.edu|website=music.indiana.edu}}</ref> Synthesized sound:[[File:Gabrieli Canzon Septimi Toni 02.wav]]]]
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 was 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.<ref>Selfridge-Field, p. 81</ref> 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]] style, and which spread quickly to northern Europe, both by the report of visitors to Venice and by Gabrieli's students, who included [[Hans Leo Hassler]] and [[Heinrich Schütz]].<ref>Grout, pp. 289–291</ref><ref>Selfridge-Field, p. 81, p. 99</ref>

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]] 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 centre of the church.<ref>Ongaro et al., ''Venice'', Grove online</ref> While this [[polychoral]] style had been extant for decades ([[Adrian Willaert]] 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]].

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.<ref name="auto1">Arnold, Grove (1980)</ref> 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.<ref name="auto1"/>

There seems to be a distinct change in Gabrieli's style after 1605, the year of publication of [[Monteverdi]]'s ''Quinto libro di madrigali'', and Gabrieli's compositions are in a much more [[Homophony|homophonic]] 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]]. "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]]'', is a showcase of such polychoral techniques, making use of four separate groups of instrumental and singing performers, underpinned by the omnipresent organ and [[Basso continuo#Basso continuo|continuo]].

==Works==
[[File:Canaletto-sketch-the-choir-singing-in-st-mark's-basilica.jpg|thumb|The choir in the 18th century]]
===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]], but also containing some of the younger Gabrieli's polychoral motets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=4128&name_role1=1&genre=16&bcorder=19&comp_id=12858|title=Giovanni Gabrieli - ArkivMusic|website=www.arkivmusic.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Concerti_di_Andrea,_et_di_Gio._Gabrieli_(...)_a_6,_7,_8,_10,_12,_et_16_(Andrea_and_Giovanni_Gabrieli)|title=Concerti di Andrea, et di Gio. Gabrieli (...) a 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, et 16 (Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli) - ChoralWiki|website=www1.cpdl.org}}</ref> 
*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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imslp.org/wiki/Sacrae_symphoniae_(Gabrieli,_Giovanni)|title=Sacrae symphoniae, Liber 1 (Gabrieli, Giovanni) - IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music|website=imslp.org}}</ref>
# 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 caeli laetare|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]], and others. The first four and the 27th and 28th are by Gabrieli.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uS8eTggXg_gC|title=Canzoni per sonare con ogni sorte di stromenti|date=6 June 2018|publisher=Alessandro Raverii|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://imslp.org/wiki/Canzoni_per_sonare_con_ogni_sorte_di_stromenti_(Raverii,_Alessandro)|title=Canzoni per sonare con ogni sorte di stromenti (Raverii, Alessandro) - IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music|website=imslp.org}}</ref>
* 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 et sonate (written nlt. 1612, publ. 1615)===
Collection of 16 [[canzoni]] and 5 [[Sonata|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)”''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/composition/canzoni-et-sonate-1615-mc0002364915|title=Canzoni e Sonate (1615), C. - Details - AllMusic|website=AllMusic}}</ref> 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|In ecclesiis]]" a 14
# Magnificat 14 vocum
# Salvator noster
# O quam gloriosa
# Exaudi me Domine
# Magnificat 17 vocum
# Buccinate

==Recordings==
Liner notes often point out that Gabrieli took advantage of the architecture of [[St Mark's Basilica]], and some recordings have been made there. However, the acoustic presents challenges. The sound is affected by variables such as where the performers and audience are seated.<ref>Morgan, D. (2010). [Review of Sound and Space in Renaissance Venice: Architecture, Music, Acoustics, by D. Howard & L. Moretti]. Church History, 79(4), 922–924. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40962889</ref>  There is a reverberation time, or the amount of time it takes a sound to decay to inaudibility, of almost 7 seconds in the modern San Marco when the church is empty, although for Gabrieli some of the echo would have been absorbed by wall hangings and the congregation. [[Douai Abbey]] has been used as an alternative;<ref name="BBC"/> it is reverberant but less problematic.

In 1969 American ensembles conducted by [[Vittorio Negri]] received awards in two categories at the [[11th Annual Grammy Awards]] for music by Gabrieli. These [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] recordings were made in St Mark's Basilica:
*[[Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance|Best Choral Performance (other than opera)]]
**Vittorio Negri (conductor), [[George Bragg]], [[Gregg Smith]], (choir directors), [[E. Power Biggs]], the [[Edward Tarr |Edward Tarr Ensemble]], the [[Gregg Smith Singers]] & the [[Texas Boys Choir]] for ''The Glory of Gabrieli''
*[[Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance|Best Chamber Music Performance]]
**Vittorio Negri (conductor), E. Power Biggs & the Edward Tarr Ensemble for ''Glory of Gabrieli Vol. II - Canzonas for Brass, Winds, Strings and Organ''

The Gabrieli Consort and Players, a British group directed by [[Paul McCreesh]], won a [[Gramophone Award]] for the album "Venetian Coronation" (released on [[Virgin Classics]] in 1990). This is a musical reconstruction of the coronation of [[Doge of Venice|Doge]] [[Marino Grimani (doge)|Marino Grimani]] and features music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. A revised version was released in 2012 on Winged Lion.<ref name="BBC">{{Cite web |last=Rogers, Graham |date=2012 |title=A new Venetian Coronation 1595 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/49zb |access-date=2025-04-04 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref name="Indie">{{Cite news |last=Gill |first=Andy |date=June 2012 |title=Album: Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players A New Venetian Coronation 1595 (Signum) |publisher=Independent.co.uk |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/album-paul-mccreesh-gabrieli-consort--playersa-new-venetian-coronation-1595-signum-7808248.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/album-paul-mccreesh-gabrieli-consort--playersa-new-venetian-coronation-1595-signum-7808248.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref>
The Gabrieli Consort and Players have also recorded ''Music for San Rocco'' (recorded in the [[Scuola Grande di San Rocco]] in 1995), featuring music by Giovanni Gabrieli.<ref name="gramo"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Arnold, Denis. ''Giovanni Gabrieli and the Music of the Venetian High Renaissance.''  London: Oxford University Press, 1979.  {{ISBN|0-19-315247-9}}
* Arnold, Denis. ''Monteverdi.''  London, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1975.  {{ISBN|0-460-03155-4}}
* Arnold, Denis. "Giovanni Gabrieli," in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie.  20 vol.  London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.  {{ISBN|1-56159-174-2}}
* 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.&nbsp;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).
* [[Manfred Bukofzer|Bukofzer, Manfred]]. ''Music in the Baroque Era''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. {{ISBN|0-393-09745-5}}
* 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. {{ISBN|0-393-95136-7}}
* Kenton, Egon. ''Life and Works of Giovanni Gabrieli''. [[American Institute of Musicology]], 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).
* [[Gustave Reese|Reese, Gustave]]. ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. {{ISBN|0-393-09530-4}}
* Selfridge-Field, Eleanor, ''Venetian Instrumental Music, from Gabrieli to Vivaldi''.  New York, Dover Publications, 1994. {{ISBN|0-486-28151-5}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Gabrieli, Giovanni}} 
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* Listen to [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/early/IVN_Gabrieli_Giovanni.html  free recordings of songs] from [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/indexENG.html Umeå Akademiska Kör].

{{Venetian School (music)}}
{{Renaissance music}}
{{Baroque music}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrieli, Giovanni}}
[[Category:1550s births]]
[[Category:1612 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Republic of Venice]]
[[Category:16th-century Venetian people]]
[[Category:17th-century Venetian people]]
[[Category:Italian Renaissance composers]]
[[Category:Venetian School (music) composers]]
[[Category:Italian Baroque composers]]
[[Category:Italian classical musicians]]
[[Category:Italian male classical composers]]
[[Category:Burials at Santo Stefano (church)]]
[[Category:Pupils of Andrea Gabrieli]]
[[Category:Pupils of Orlande de Lassus]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian male musicians]]