Here's the link to another video from the Summer Flute Academy, with the most incredibly beautiful music by Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612). It is rare to find pre-baroque music on a flute program, but the loss is definitely ours!

This "Canzon" in 8 voices features two groups of 4 players, facing each other from opposing sides of the room in this performance. Had we had the luck to "beam ourselves" to St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, Italy, where Gabrieli was the chief composer, the design of the church with its opposing choir lofts would have amplified the antiphonal effect. Gabrieli was famous for using the spectacular acoustics of St. Mark's to the benefit of his compositions. These influenced early Baroque composers such as Schütz and indirectly Bach, bringing the Italian style into the German high-Baroque. More globalization!

Congratulations to the Academy students who performed—it was a joy to hear live, and a joy to hear again through the magic of YouTube!

Master Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli, with lute