Giovanni Gabrieli, who died in 1612, was without doubt the greatest composer of the Italian High Renaissance. We celebrate the holidays this year with music by this Venetian master, his uncle Andrea, and their contemporaries. This is music that would have echoed from the mosaic-covered vaults of Saint Mark’s Basilica as well as other Venetian churches. The program consists of motets for from two to fifteen voices, as well as dazzling sonatas and canzonas for cornetti, trombones and strings - festive music worthy of the season but also of the pomp and brilliance of the Venetian State.
“The plangent eloquence and dare-devil bravura of Bruce Dickey’s cornetto playing would charm the skin off a snake.” – BBC Music Magazine