Gabrieli, Giovanni

Period: Renaissance

Born: c. 1554 in Venice, Italy

Died: Sunday, August 12, 1612 in Venice, Italy

Nation of Origin: Italy

Major Works:

Antiphonal sacred works (for performance by voices and instruments in St. Mark's church in Venice)
2 sets of Sacrae Symphoniae (1597 and 1615)

Other Information:

Quick Facts

  • Year of birth is estimated at somewhere between 1554 and 1557.
  • Nephew and student of Andrea Gabrieli, an organist at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
  • Worked in Munich as assistant to Lassus in the court chapel from 1575 to 1579.
  • Became an organist at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice in 1585.
  • Taught the composer, Schütz.
Gabrieli is most identified with antiphonal works using divided choirs of voices and instruments in the impressive acoustical space of St. Mark's Church in Venice. He was among the first composers to create music for specific instrumental ensembles as in his Sonata pian e forte which is also innovative in that dynamic contrast is specifically indicated in the score. He greatly influenced many of the finest Italian and German composers such as Heinrich Schütz.

General Bibliography:

Reese, Gustave, Music in the Renaissance, W.W. Norton & Company; November 1959, ISBN: 0393095304

Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World , W. W. Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN: 0393097188

Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group, December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257

Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc., January 2004, ISBN: 0195170679

Rutherford-Johnson, Tim, Kennedy, Michael, and Kennedy, Joyce The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 6th Edition, 2012, ISBN: 0199578109


Links to essays at other sites:

Please note: Each link will open in a new window.

Biographical essay from Wikipedia


Please support this free site with your purchases.