“Missa Brevis” by Andrea Gabrieli”
A commentary on this week’s music by Dr. James T. Gerber, Music Associate
Andrea Gabrieli (1532-1585) was an Italian composer, organist, and teacher of the late Renaissance era who was an important figure within the musical traditions of Venice and the Basilica of San Marco, where he was an organist and resident composer. Gabrieli was a prolific composer, writing sacred and secular music, works for voices and instruments. A significant amount of his sacred music was composed while he was at San Marco, and was written to reflect the grandeur of the ceremonies taking place there and exploited the rich resonance created by the space. The “Missa brevis,” or “short Mass,” is a setting of the ordinary texts of the Mass written in a less elaborate, concise manner. Andrea Gabrieli hesitated to publish his own compositions; most of his works were published posthumously by his nephew, Giovanni Gabrieli.
