Giovanni Gabrieli

Giovanni Gabrieli 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, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Giovanni Gabrieli.

From the period sources

Giovanni Gabrieli, nephew and pupil of the eminent Andrea Gabrieli, was born in Venice in 1557 and succeeded Claudio Merulo as first organist at San Marco in 1585, a position he held until his death in 1612 or 1613 (Brown’s Biographical Dictionary, 1886; Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1889). He was considered “indisputably the greatest genius of the Venetian school” (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1889). Gabrieli maintained a close friendship with his fellow pupil Hans Leo Hassler, and was highly esteemed by German patrons like Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria and the Counts of Fugger (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1889).

As a teacher, Gabrieli was widely sought after, with Heinrich Schütz, sent by the Elector Maurice of Saxony, being his most renowned pupil (Grove’s Dictionary, 1922; Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1889). While representing the culmination of the strict contrapuntal schools, Gabrieli was also an adventurous composer who introduced elements of direct expression through harmony and figure, and experimented with instrumental accompaniment, foreshadowing a significant shift in musical art (The Evolution of the Art of Music, 1897). His pupil Francesco Bellazzi published various sacred works, including masses and motets, between 1618 and 1628 (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900).