大象传媒

Donald Macleod looks at the twilight years of Giovanni Gabrieli鈥檚 life, and how his influence as a teacher went on to shape his legacy.

Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli share a name that dominated Venetian music during the late 16th and early 17th century. Both uncle and nephew were organists and composers, and their music was linked inextricably with the exceptional city in which they lived and worked. From the organ loft of St Mark鈥檚 Basilica to the resplendent palazzos of merchants and noblemen, they provided the soundtrack to Venice鈥檚 golden age, with its numerous feast days and celebrations. But together, they would also pioneer an ambitious way of writing choral music - playing with texture and architecture 鈥� that would eventually echo beyond the Venetian waterways and profoundly affect the music of the future.

Today, we hear the exquisite music Giovanni wrote in the final years of his life, and how his years of hardworking and networking eventually earn him the title of 鈥渕agnifico鈥� 鈥� almost unheard of for a man from his artisan background. Nevertheless, he would have still been lost to history within a few years of his death 鈥� if it weren鈥檛 for the devotion of his composition pupils.

Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon XXVIII a 8 鈥淪ol sol la fa mi鈥�
London Symphony Brass
Eric Crees, conductor

Giovanni Gabrieli:Buccinate in neomenio tuba
Gabrieli Consort
Paul McCreesh, conductor

Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon per sonar primi toni a 10; Canzon a 4 鈥淟a Spiritata鈥�; Canzon 3 a 6
Hesperion XX
Jordi Savall, director

Giovanni Gabrieli: Maria virgo a 10; Canzon in echo duodecimo toni; Hic est filius Dei
Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam
Oltremontano
Wim Becu, director

Giovanni Gabrieli: Quem vidistis pastores
Monteverdi Choir
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Giovanni Gabrieli: In eclesiis
I Fagiolini
Robert Hollingworth, conductor

Produced by Amelia Parker for 大象传媒 Audio Wales and West