Andrea Gabrieli

Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533 – August 30, 1585) was an Italian

In 1566, Gabrieli was appointed organist at St. Mark's Basilica, one of the most prestigious musical posts in northern Italy, a position he held for the remainder of his life. During this period he established a reputation as one of the leading composers of his time. The distinctive acoustical properties of St. Mark's informed the development of his ceremonial compositional style, which has been closely associated with the emergence of the polychoral style and the stile concertato, two developments that contributed to the formation of the Baroque era in music.

His duties at St. Mark's clearly included composition, for he wrote a great deal of music for ceremonial affairs, some of considerable historical interest. He provided the music for the festivities accompanying the celebration of the victory over the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto (1571); he also composed music for the visit of several princes from Japan (1585).

Late in his career he also became famous as a teacher. Prominent among his students were his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli; the music theorist Lodovico Zacconi; Hans Leo Hassler, who carried the concertato style to Germany; and many others.

Death The date and circumstances of his death were not known until the 1980s, when the register containing his death date was found. Dated August 30, 1585, it includes the notation that he was "about 52 years old"; his approximate birth date has been inferred from this. Vicenza, 1585.

Evidently Andrea Gabrieli was reluctant to publish much of his own music, and his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli published much of it after his uncle's death.

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