Section dedicated to the musical tradition of the Basilica

Navigation path
Home Page | The Basilica | The musical tradition

Section dedicated to the musical tradition of the Basilica

The history
Choirs and Instruments

Famous throughout the Renaissance world, St. Mark's Music Chapel was, at the beginning of the 16th century, the centre of Venetian musical life, where style and ways of considering music suited to the magnificence of the Basilica developed.
A new musical thought evolved compared to the traditional Flemish school, leading to a radical change that influenced the centuries that followed.
"Broken choirs", echo sonatas - the instrumental parts with melodic lines not the same as the choral lines - were born in the Basilica, while the greatest Renaissance composers (Willaert, Merulo, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, and Monteverdi) actively took part in the Chapel's life.