Music For San Rocco

The polychoral and antiphonal works of Giovanni Gabrieli sound best performed in the acoustics for which they were conceived, such as the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, where this splendid collection was recorded. Whether in extroverted pieces like the Sonatas 18 and 20, or the introspective and harmonically rich Domine, Deus meus, the sounds that resonate between the notes are crucial to this composer's expression. Time and again one's ears perk up at Gabrieli's genius for blending the most unlikely sonorities imaginable, such as six low voices and six sackbuts (early relatives of the trombone) in the extraordinary Suscipe clementissime. Although Gabrieli may have been the first "spatial" composer, or perhaps the first sound designer, he never indulges in fanciful effects for their own sake. The sonics manage to convey the music's spatial requirements without sacrificing clarity. --Jed Distler