The program represents a fairly deep single-disc sampling of the instrumental music associated with St. Mark's cathedral in Venice around and after the year 1600, played on modern brass instruments rather than the motley crew of devices that a historically authentic performance would use. This so-called polychoral" music drew its structure from St. Mark's complex internal space, with groups of musicians situated in different parts of the building falling naturally into antiphonal structures... Unlike the many recordings that simply present Gabrieli's works in series, this one offers a large section of music by other composers associated with St. Mark's... [A] valuable introduction to the polychoral style." -- James Manheim, Allmusic.com [7/2009]
