Description

Giovanni Gabrieli was a noted composer of his day, living and working in Venice for most of his life. His employment at St. Mark’s Basilica afforded him the opportunity to exploit the unique design of the church interior (with its multiple choir lofts) by using large forces of instruments or voices, spatially separated.  Gabrieli was also one of the first composers to use dynamic indications in his compositions. HODIE CHRISTUS NATUS EST – today, “Christ is Born” – dates from 1597, and was composed originally for two antiphonal choirs. In this arrangement, the organ functions as one of the choirs whilst the brass band (split into three spatial groups) functions as the other.

LEVEL: B/C

Sample Score
Inner Cover