among other places, Gabrieli learned his craft in Munich, under Orlando de Lassus, the absolute master of late-Renaissance polyphony
together with his uncle Andrea Gabrieli, Adrian Willaert and others, Gabrieli determined the sound of 16th-century Venice, until Monteverdi took over the helm in 1613
Gabrieli's lavish music for the celebration of high feast days in the Basilica di San Marco, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and other Venetian churches was famous throughout Europe
polychoral singing, vast line-ups and grandiose effects are typical of both Sacrae symphoniae collections