GRADE 3-3.5
Canzoni were pieces composed for various combinations of instruments and various sizes of ensembles. This particular work was originally for four oboes and four bassoons. The actual instrumentation of many of Giovanni Gabrieli’s canzoni is not known, mainly because these pieces were designed for an ensemble of non-specific instruments. They were often performed combining oboes, violins, trumpets, trombones, gambas and many others. The most famous set of Gabrieli canzoni was his Sacrae symphoniae (1597). Included in these 16 works is the famous Sonata piano e forte which links the canzon and the sonata.
Sample pages of the score can be viewed above.
