The Music of Gabrieli

This recording isn't new -- I picked it up in college when I was studying this music in music history classes. Gabrieli's style is interesting in that his music is complex enough in terms of voices that you cannot perform it too quickly; the music therefore typically takes an easy pace, yet places with your sense of space. Multiple choirs of instruments, from sets of instrumentalists in one to voices in others make for really stereophonic music. The famous sonata pian e forte is included here, as is the sonata a tre violini, and his Sonata à 22. With the spirit of the Renaissance in this music, you can almost sense yourself inside the large cathedrals and spaces of Europe. Yet, Gabrieli lived in a time of change, as instrumental music was gaining sophistication, at the birth of the baroque. Of all the Gabrieli I own (among my recordings, the set by Musica Fiata Köln and the later release by McCreesh on Archiv) this is a tamer, more relaxed release in almost all respects. But with good headphones, it can't hurt to enjoy the music played a tad more simply, and enjoy the sonority that Gabrieli is remembered for.