Sonata XVIII (C211)

for 4 trumpets in Bb, flugelhorn, 4 horns, 4 trombones, tuba

Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1555-1612), perhaps best known for his many published motets and instrumental canzoni, spent the majority of his career as organist at Venice’s Basilica San Marco. Sonata XVIII survives in the 1615 print Canzoni et Sonate (RISM G88), compiled and edited posthumously by a Father P. Thaddeo, Gabrieli’s confessor (likely assisted by Alvise Grani, who is credited with the same for Symphoniae Sacrae II). The work is scored for 3 choirs, with rubrics indicating the use of 4 cornetti and 10 tromboni. The present edition is based on a copy of RISM G88 located in the Staatsbibliothek Augsburg. All notes and accidentals are true to the print; ficta and optional ornamentation based on the treatises of Bassano and Dalla Casa are located above the staff. Substitute parts are available in PDF form from the publisher by request.