Giovanni Gabrieli

Born: ca. 1555 in Venice, Italy

Died: August 12, 1612 in Venice

Studied: with famous uncle, composer Andrea Gabrieli, who was organist at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice

Assignments: 1575–1579: court musician for Duke Albrecht V in Munich; 1585: organist for a religious confraternity; also in 1585: organist at St. Mark’s Cathedral and, after his uncle’s death in 1586, its principal composer

Best known for: his association with St. Mark’s Cathedral and the “founding” of the Venetian style of contrapuntal music. Gabrieli’s choral works were often written for multiple choirs, divided into as many as 14 separate parts. He was also the first notable composer to include instrumental parts in choral compositions. Gabrieli was a popular teacher throughout Europe and taught the likes of Heinrich Schütz and Michael Praetorius.

Curious fact: Gabrieli consciously used St. Mark’s striking architectural layout — with its two choir lofts facing each other — to experiment with sound effects.

Notable compositions: Jubilate Deo, 1597 Canzon primi toni a 10 (from the Sacrae Symphoniae), 1597 In ecclesiis and Buccinate, published in 1615 after his death