Gabrieli, G: Canzon Primi Toni a 8

The young Heinrich Schütz’s four-year sojourn with Giovanni Gabrieli proved to be one of the most fruitful educational journeys to Italy undertaken by a German musician. Following his return, Schütz presented his 'Psalms of David' in 1619: an impressive result of his encounter with the Italian musical style. These 'German Psalms in the Italian Manner' are consistently based on the polychoral style with which Schütz had become acquainted in the Venetian tradition of cori spezzati. As first organist of St Mark’s, Venice, Gabrieli included in his compositions the architecture of this ecclesiastical building in a unique way, placing the singers and instrumentalists, who were divided into as many as four choirs, in facing galleries, thus achieving remarkable sonic and spatial effects.

On this recording the Cappella Murensis and the ensemble Les Cornets Noirs make use of the four galleries in the Abbey Church at Muri where the abbots and master builders designed the octagonal nave of specifically for polyphonic effect. In the works for two, three and four choirs, voices and instruments blend with a total of four continuo organs, producing a unique sound. The inclusion of the two large historic Bossart organs (Epistle and Gospel) as continuo instruments creates an additional dynamic palette.

With magnificent Sonatas and Canzonas by Giovanni Gabrieli, Les Cornets Noirs, led by the cornettists Gebhard David and Bork-Frithjof Smith, are showcased as one of the leading European ensembles in early baroque music.

A new Baroque ensemble with a name that irresistibly evokes voyages and discoveries and a 17th-century Polish composer who has lain unfairly neglected in the archives of central Europe when his music is at once sensuous and sparkling, often reminiscent of certain pieces by Claudio Monteverdi. Here is the first recording from Les Traversées Baroques. Double, triple or quadruple choirs testify to the splendour of a Baroque art, here brought to its zenith. Everything on this CD richly rewards exploration!

Echo - Glory of Gabrieli displays the Brass’s more serious side with an album exploring the Baroque innovations pioneered by Gabrieli at Venice’s Basilica San Marco. Because of the Basilica’s unique design, which included two choir lofts separated by a cavernous interior, it was difficult for choirs to sing in unison. Gabrieli used this to his advantage in his music for brass, creating works where one brass choir echoes or responds to the other – a technique that proved immensely popular in his time and is recreated in our own by Canadian Brass.

Recorded in 1951/2