HIP Gabrieli?

[MishaK]

Yesterday I heard a fun concert by the CSO brass which included a few Gabrieli antiphonal brass pieces. I've only ever heard that stuff on modern brass instruments. Hearing the passagework for trumpets yesterday made me wonder what this sounds like on valveless period instruments. Can anyone recommend a good HIP recording of this repertoire? Please only recent recordings in good sound and with performers with solid intonation. I have a low tolerance for bad intonation. Thanks.

[petrarch]

Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort have numerous very good recordings out there. One of my favorites is the Music for San Rocco 1608 double SACD on Archiv.

[Antoine Marchand]

Yesterday I heard a fun concert by the CSO brass which included a few Gabrieli antiphonal brass pieces. I've only ever heard that stuff on modern brass instruments. Hearing the passagework for trumpets yesterday made me wonder what this sounds like on valveless period instruments. Can anyone recommend a good HIP recording of this repertoire? Please only recent recordings in good sound and with performers with solid intonation. I have a low tolerance for bad intonation. Thanks.

Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort have numerous very good recordings out there. One of my favorites is the Music for San Rocco 1608 double SACD on Archiv.

It's true, McCreesh and his team have recorded some of the finest (Giovanni) Gabrieli in existence and now their Archiv recordings have been licensed by Brilliant Classics under this aspect:



DANGER, CAUTION! Please read Reply #8.

This set includes a complete disc of Gabrieli music (Music for San Rocco, as it has been previously mentioned) and several other pieces of Giovanni and Andrea in the remaining discs.

But considering your specific interest in brass instruments maybe you sould consider this one:



... or this cheaper (and available) re-release:



 

Giovanni Gabrieli
Sonate e Canzoni "per concertar con l'organo"
Sacrae Symphoniae, 1597
Canzoni e sonate, 1615

Jan Willem Jansen, Liuve Tamminga
aux orgues de San Petronio, Bologna

Concerto Palatino
Bruce Dickey, Charles Toet
Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen, Veronika Skuplik, violins
Bruce Dickey, Doron Sherwin, William Dongois, Yoshimichi Hamada, cornets
Ole-Kristian Andersen, Wim Becu, Cas Gevers, Franck Poitrineau, Charles Toet, Simen van Mechelen, trombones

[MishaK]

Thanks for these tips! I'll have to check that out!

Just one question: I just listened to some excerpts of the Concerto Palatino recordings. Why violins? Is that part of the original writing? Are those parts played by keyed trumpets now?

[The new erato]

Bruce Dickey, Charles Toet
Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen, Veronika Skuplik, violins
Bruce Dickey, Doron Sherwin, William Dongois, Yoshimichi Hamada, cornets
Ole-Kristian Andersen, Wim Becu, Cas Gevers, Franck Poitrineau, Charles Toet, Simen van Mechelen, trombones

Trombones? Shouldn't that be (shiver) SACKBUTS  ?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Why violins?

From what I've read, Gabrieli sometimes used them in conjunction with the brass. Which brings us to the important point that we don't know for sure the exact instrumentation that Gabrieli used. It wasn't the usual thing to specify instrumentation for ensemble works at that time. We know that the permanent ensemble of St. Mark's consisted of cornetts and sackbuts, so it's logical to conclude Gabrieli was writing for these ancestral brass instruments. However, that doesn't rule out other arrangements.

[Antoine Marchand]

Trombones? Shouldn't that be (shiver) SACKBUTS  ?

The Concerto Palatino is a HIP ensemble and they describe themselves like a band of "cornettos and baroque trombones".

Here is their webpage with some interesting info and pics: http://www.concertopalatino.com/Home.html

Particularly, I liked the article titled Why did the cornetto die out?: http://www.concertopalatino.com/Decline_of_Cornetto.html

[Antoine Marchand]

From what I've read, Gabrieli sometimes used them in conjunction with the brass. Which brings us to the important point that we don't know for sure the exact instrumentation that Gabrieli used. It wasn't the usual thing to specify instrumentation for ensemble works at that time. We know that the permanent ensemble of St. Mark's consisted of cornetts and sackbuts, so it's logical to conclude Gabrieli was writing for these ancestral brass instruments. However, that doesn't rule out other arrangements.

I don't know the exact case of Gabrieli, but that explanation sounds reasonable in general terms. Anyway, that disc expressly states to follow two different collections of Gabrieli: Sacrae Symphoniae (1597) and Canzoni e sonate (1615). 

[Antoine Marchand]

Thanks for these tips! I'll have to check that out!

You're welcome, Mensch. But please be careful of the re-release on Brilliant that I recommended yesterday. I never had listened to the disc of the Music of San Rocco from that box set (I also have the edition on Archiv) and it's defective, you can hear a lot of cracks in the recording. I don't know if it's just my copy, but I don't believe.

[MishaK]

You're welcome, Mensch. But please be careful of the re-release on Brilliant that I recommended yesterday. I never had listened to the disc of the Music of San Rocco from that box set (I also have the edition on Archiv) and it's defective, you can hear a lot of cracks in the recording. I don't know if it's just my copy, but I don't believe.

Yeah, I've already concluded I'd rather have the HM release because I already have a lot of the Monteverdi on the Brilliant set with other performers and see no need to duplicate.

[MN Dave]

I like His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts but I may not know any better so don't mind me.

Thanks for the thread.