Musica Nova (Brookline)

The installation of Adrian Willaert as maestro di cappella at the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice in 1527 was one of the most consequential hirings in 16th-century European music. Alongside his efforts to revitalize musical life in the cathedral, Willaert was also a musical innovator, especially through the publication of his monumental Musica Nova, wherein he helped to establish a more direct (and, to 21st-century ears, more familiar) relationship between texts and music. And after Willaert’s tenure, the positions of maestro di cappella and organist were filled by musicians still highly regarded today, especially the Gabrielis and Monteverdi. Join us to explore the history of music-making in Venice from the time of Willaert’s reforms to the last gasps of the stile antico with works by Monteverdi, A. Gabrieli, Willaert, de Rore, and Merulo.