San Marco di Venezia : The Golden Age

Album review

In the 16th century, the Republic of Venice was approaching its economic, diplomatic and political zenith: a final military glory in 1571 that halted the Ottoman advance at the battle of Lepanto would mark its entry into the charmed circle of great states with dominion over land and sea, and its provinces stretched as far as the gates of Milan. In an Italy shaken by a chaos of wars, this state of affairs saw a flowering of the arts in the Venetian Lagoon. The century of Titian and Tintoretto also saw the vertiginous rise of the Cappella musicale patriarcale di San Marco, which would remain the city's most active musical centre until the end of the 17th century. Testament to its glory provided by the profusion of historic musicians, it welcomed during its golden age: Adrian Willaert, Gioseffo Zarlino, Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Croce, Claudio Merulo, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, Giovanni Bassano and Biagio Marini. Of these, Claudio Merulo and Andrea Gabrieli played a key role in the simultaneous development of harpsichord music and the Venetian stile concertato. Moreover, the nomination of the Fleming Adrian Willaert in 1527 to head the Cappella musicale sent the institution off down new and resolutely modern paths, and saw it become a real sanctuary for the musical avant-garde. Willaert was the instigator of one of the most famous Venetian musical innovations: the cori spezzati, which would update the usual practice of antiphony, alternating between two half choirs, by introducing spatial "overlaps": the two choirs oppose, follow, impose themselves upon each other, merging in a completely new and free series of combinations. Andrea Gabrieli and then especially his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli would take this dual choir style to new heights, in which wind instruments – cornets and sackbuts – would still play a preponderant role. But after 1613, the new master of the chapel, Monteverdi, would systematically favour the recruitment of violinists to the detriment of cornet players, so that Bassano would be one of the last great Venetian cornet players. The musical Renaissance was being increasingly left behind to make room for the nascent baroque… Etienne Meyer and the Traversées baroques blend their voices, Renaissance horns and organs to bring us the rich sounds of this Venetian golden age of Gabrieli, Merulo and Bassano. © SM/Qobuz

Details of original recording : Recorded at Saint Martin de Hoff, Sarrebourg (France) & Chiesa di Valvasone (Italy) in July & October 2017