repertory came from the later collections, which accounts for their peculiar features.

Most of

these compositions seem to have been performed at a particular feast or a special occasion.

Giovanni Gabrielis Exaudi me Domine (1615) is an example of a large setting that uses the

combination of dialogue and repetition for a non-liturgical text.239 It is for quadruple-choir and

sixteen voices. It uses different polychoral devices for each line (see later section of this chapter

for the discussion of tonal procedures in this motet). Polyphonic settings of lines 1, 2, and 3

produce a traditionally-minded dialogue, while repetition dominates the remaining lines. In line
ESTN REVUELTAS HOQUETUS
2, the words movendi sunt (are stirred) assumes a kind of 4-voice hocket, obviously to imitate

the meaning of the words (Example 5.9).240 The technique also appears in line 4, with et timeo

(and fear). Line 4 combines tutti and repetition for the phrase, dum judicium aderit (while

judgment is near), to establish the first two words in tutti and the last one in repetition. The tutti

also continues until the beginning of line 7, quando coeli (when heaven), followed by the

repetition of short phrases on movendi sunt (are stirred) and et terra (and earth, Example

5.10).

In the Venetian polychoral repertory, polychoral textures differ according to genres as

well as to the size of the setting. Venetian composers developed polychoral devices and

employed them in various ways for the sake of the better rhetorically highlighting the delivery of

the text. Furthermore, they combined the devices with new compositional techniques, including

tonal language, instruments, and solo voices to create true sacred theatrical spectacles. I now

deal with these procedures.

239
For a modern edition, see Giovanni Gabrieli, Opera Omnia, edited by Richard Charteris, vol. 5
(Hnssler: American Institute of Musicology, 1996), 161-189.
240
Anthony Carver also calls the technique here (and later as well) as hocket and discusses it under
Mannerism in his book. Anthony F. Carver, Cori spezzati: The Development of Sacred Polychoral Music to the
Time of Schtz, vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 160-161.

84
Example 5.9. Giovanni Gabrieli, Exaudi me Domine , mm. 15-18

EL HOQUETUS REALZA CARVER HABLA DE

EL TEXTO MANIERISMO
(MOVIENDOSE)

85
 EN LA SIGUIENTE REPETICIN DEL TEXTO, EL
"MOVIMIENTO" SE DESARROLLA A 4 COROS.

Example 5.10. Giovanni Gabrieli, Exaudi me Domine , mm. 76-82

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works, even though their mutations were limited only to two hexachords, namely the root one

and its corresponding mollis counterpart (Table 5.3). Also, some German composers such as

Orlando di Lasso and Hans Leo Hassler used the system of the hexachords with the same limited

mutations.252 There was a direct connection between Venetian and German composers during

the late Renaissance. Both Gabrielis worked under Lasso at the Munich court before they

became the organists at San Marco, and they also were in touch with Hassler, who studied

shortly in Venice probably with Andrea Gabrieli. Even though the account of actual influence

among composers is a problem of seemingly impossible solution, the fact that they were

personally acquainted with each other and the musical features they shared indicate that the

system of the hexachords was very quickly distributed along personal networks of composers of

international scope.

Table 5.3. The number of hexachordal shifts in sacred polychoral pieces

No shift Mollis shift Durus Two-way
shift shift
Giovanni Gabrieli (1597, 1615) 19 (3) 18 (6) 9 (7) 7 (6)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1572, 1575, 29 9 0 0
1591, 1601)
Giovanni Maria Nanino (1607) 7 (2) 0 0 0
Giovanni Francesco Anerio (1607, 1613, 14 (13) 2 0 0
253
1617)
Orlando di Lasso (1564, 1565, 1570, 1570-79, 9 7 0 0
1585, 1580-94)
Hand Leo Hassler (1598, 1612, 1615) 20 8 1 0

Still, Giovanni Gabrielis use of the system in the sacred repertory was more extensive

than that of his contemporaries. While Roman and German sacred polychoral repertories

typically included mutations mainly to the mollis side, Gabrieli also employed shifts to the durus

252
There is a single occurrence of a mutation to the durus hexachord in Hans Leo Hasslers motet
Congratulamini omnes, which can be singled out as the result of Venetian influence.
253
For Anerio, the number includes monody as well.

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side. This expansion of the tonal possibilities allowed the composer to reinforce the rhetoric of

text delivery and also contributed to the incorporation of dramatic procedures into his religious

works. His quadruple-choir Exaudi me Domine (1615) can be cited as a good example of his

trademark hexachordal shift to the durus side. The piece is in mode 1 with a final on D, and

authentic cadences on F, G, D, A, and E, which belong to the C and G hexachords (Example

5.17a and b). An authentic cadence on E appears on dum judicium aderit (while judgment is

near). The first part of the phrase, dum judicium, is repeated in tutti and each time punctuated

by a cadence, first on E and later on A (Example 5.18). Then, the last part, aderit, is closed with

a cadence on D. Since the original hexachord of this piece is the natural one, the E cadence

signals the shift of hexachord to durus, which is employed to highlight the phrase, and the

succession of fifth-related cadences, E, A, and D, also seems to depict the image of the text by

gradually approaching a final pitch from far away.

Para cualquier tonalidad, estos hexacordos son los mismos HEXACORDO
REFERENCIANDO
Example 5.17a. Hexachord Model
SIEMPRE NOTAS
NATURALES

Example 5.17b. Cadences of Exaudi me Domine (numbers indicate the measures in which
cadences occur)

Giovannis double-choir Deus, Deus meus, respice in me, from the 1615 Nrnberg

printing, also shows interesting hexachordal shifts. The composition sets Psalm 21 in twelve

voices, and is written in G with natural signature. Authentic cadences occur on C, G, D, A, and

95
Example 5.18. Giovanni Gabrieli, Exaudi me Domine, mm. 38-43255

255
Giovanni Gabrieli, Opera Omnia, vol. 5, 173-174.

97
A B C D E F G H I J K L
Magnificat 12vv 3 3 Repetition I Vespers B flat F, C, F 6
Bb, G,
D, A
Confitebor tibi 13vv 3 2 Dialogue I Psalm 9 Sunday B flat G, D, G 2
Domine C, F,
Bb
Quem vidistis 14 2 T Instrument (D) Antiphon Christmas B flat G, D, G 1
pastores parts sinfonia C, A,
Bb
In Ecclesiis 14 3 1 Solo (S- Third Sunday of July A, D, A 10
parts D) (Commemoration of B, G,
Venices recovery from C
the plague of 1575-
1577)
Magnificat 14vv 3 1 Repetition D Vespers B flat G, D, G 2
C, F,
Bb
Salvator noster hodie 15vv 3 1 Repetition I Lectio Iv Christmas B flat F, C, F 6
dilectissimi natus est Matins G, D,
A, Bb
O quam gloriosa 16vv 4 T Tutti D BVM C, G, C 12
hodie beata Maria (Assumption) F, D,
processit Bb, A,
E
Exaudi me Domine 16vv 3 1 Dialogue I D, A, D 1
G, E,
F

246