THE ART OF ORCHESTRATION IS BORN
Beyond the provision of an organ bass, none of the publications mentioned so far actually specified the instrumentation for concerted compositions—or as perhaps we ought therefore to say, for concerted performances. All the parts were furnished with text, none was “vocal” or “instrumental” to the exclusion of the other possibility, so the assignment of voices and instruments to specific parts had to be made by the director of the performance ad hoc (“for the nonce”). The first composer to furnish definite specifications for his concerted works—in other words, the first composer to practice the art of orchestration as we know it—was Andrea Gabrieli’s nephew and pupil Giovanni Gabrieli (ca. 1553–1612), who took the post of second organist at St. Mark’s during the last year of his uncle’s life, and stayed there for the rest of his own. It was Giovanni who edited Andrea’s sacred works for publication in 1587 and included a few concerti of his own. It was a genre in which he would surpass his uncle and, through his own pupils, transform church music thoroughly, in the process dealing a body blow to the ars perfecta, no less effective for its being unintended.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 18 Reformations and Counter Reformations." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 May. 2025. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume1/actrade-9780195384819-div1-018006.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 18 Reformations and Counter Reformations. In Oxford University Press, Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 May. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume1/actrade-9780195384819-div1-018006.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 18 Reformations and Counter Reformations." In Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 May. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume1/actrade-9780195384819-div1-018006.xml
