Gabrieli canzonas, ricercar and sonata

Canzona Duo Decimi Toni a 10, II, G. Gabrieli

There were two Gabrielis in 16^th Century Venice – the uncle Andrea (1532/1533-1585) and the nephew Giovanni (1554/1557-1612). They both worked with Orlando de Lassus at the court of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria, and both were organists at St Mark’s Basilica, which was the chapel of Venice’s Doge. Many of their works were published in retrospective volumes and the Sacrae Symphoniae (1597) included religious vocal and instrumental works by Giovanni.

The instrumental pieces in the Sacrae Symphoniae are either titled canzonas or sonatas. The Canzonas originated as arrangements of chansons – a type of French polyphonic songs. Gradually the canzonas became independent of their chanson models and the ones published by Giovanni were all original compositions. These pieces were played during the epistle and post-communion of a church service.

The Sacrae Symphoniae has three canzonas that are for ten voices and in the twelfth mode (or the Hypoionian mode). This particular canzone is the second of the three and has a structure that resembles a Baroque concerto, with the chanson motif acting as the tutti sections, separated by the flashes of virtuosity in the episodes. The tutti sections here are always restated in the tonic without any transposition, which is a tell-tale sign that this is a work that predates the practice of tonality.

Ricercar del Duodecimo Tuono, A. Gabrieli

Little is known of Andrea Gabrieli’s early life. He applied for the post of organist at St Mark’s in 1557 but the application was not successful and he left Venice and entered the service of Duke Albrecht in Bavaria. When he did get appointed as organist at St Mark’s (1564), his music started to show influences of Lassus. Like Lassus, Andrea excelled in all genres of vocal music of the time including motets, Masses and madrigals. In fact, Andrea went one better by making a significant contribution to instrumental music.

In instrumental ensembles, the term ‘ricercar’ was used for a range of pieces, some verge on being a study of contrapuntal techniques whilst others can be as appealing as the canzonas. This ricercar in the Hypoionian mode focuses not on counterpoint but on the sonic possibilities offered by an ensemble of four instruments. The spacing of the voices were managed in different ways, sometimes with the top part an octave above the others to highlight its brilliance, and sometimes with the upper two voices pitted against the lower two in an antiphonal exchange. This exploration of sound is matched by a clearly defined structure, with a triple-time section in the centre offering variety and the da capo of the opening section giving unity.

La spritata, G. Gabrieli

The four Canzoni per sonare first appeared in print in Alessandro Raverii’s anthology Canznoi per sonare con ogni sorte di stromenti n 1608, though the works themselves were probably composed earlier as there was a keyboard version of La Spiritata published in 1593.

As the name suggests, this canzona has a lively character, though this is not necessarily evident from an opening that is dominated by a rather square chanson motif that outlines a minor triad. However, the descending quavers at the end of the motif would later be inverted into ascending ones which are passed around the instruments to give waves of rising quavers. The close of the opening section brings in new materials in a triple-time metre, and the most prominent of these is the skipping rhythm which becomes a persistent feature in the latter half of the piece. Together with trickles of semiquaver passing notes, they bring the piece to a spirited conclusion.

Sonata pian e forte, G. Gabrieli

The sonata pian e forte is an example of the polychoral music, or cori spezzati, that played an important role at St Mark’s. The Basilica had two organ lofts and the practice then was to have a choir in each of the lofts. When the occasion arises, the composers would write in a grand manner that exploits the potential of the double-choir, using a variety of timbral colours, antiphonal exchanges, and a mixture of polyphonic and homophonic writing.

The cori spezzati was not limited to vocal music and here the sonata has two four-part choirs, each with three trombones in it. Such emphasis on the low registers is in keeping with other Gabrieli sonatas, where solemnity is often preferred to brilliance. Also of note is the fact that the second choir does not venture far above the middle C whereas the first choir has a normal treble part. This contrast in register between the two choirs is most obvious in the opening exchange, where each choir makes a substantial statement (both marked piano) and after the lengthy absence of a treble part (when the coro grave was giving its statement), the two choirs join forces in a heart-warming tutti (marked forte), relieving the listener of the austere low register.

Canzon XX, G. Gabrieli

This physically impressive and expansive canzona for 22 voices is one of Gabrieli’s late works, published posthumously in the collection Canzone e sonate. The opening chanson motif is recalled several times either by its stately dotted rhythm or by its static harmonic progressions underpinned by the long and sustained bass notes. These recurrences punctuate the piece in a more imaginative manner than the canzona in the twelfth mode that opened the concert. This time, the motifs never return in full and are quoted in other tonal centres such as the supertonic and the subdominant. Interspersed between these moments of stability are lively episodes with extravagant ornamentations and spritely rhythms, especially in the triple-time section towards the end with its hemiola and syncopations.

By Giovanni Gabrieli’s time, canzonas had already taken on a somewhat anachronistic element because the chansons they used to be based on were no longer popular. Moreover, with the emergence of the basso continuo there was a trend to write music with a lighter texture and with more emphasis on homophony. This meant that the instrumental music of Gabrieli was soon forgotten, with the Baroque concerto and trio-sonatas replaced the canzonas/sonatas as the preferred medium to express the ideals of the time. The Venetian vocal music, however, did get passed on to the Germans by Gabrieli’s student Heinrich Schütz and this grand manner of writing would eventually come to influence Johann Sebastian Bach.

July 2012