Uncle (Andrea) and nephew (Giovanni) Gabrieli have had a great impact on Italian Renaissance music. Especially their works for cori spezzati (double-choir) - ‘inherited’ from Adrian Willaert – utilizing the two balconies opposite each other at St. Mark’s in Venice, have left an undisputed mark. Both composers, however, were also organists themselves. It must have been a challenge to compose music for two organs along the same cori spezzati lines.

This selection of pieces allows the listener to join in the excitement of playing on historic instruments in a vast church. The organists are Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and Liuwe Tamminga. Recorded at the Basilica di S. Petronio in Bologna, Italy. Both organs have been used for these recordings. The organs by Lorenzo da Prato (1471-1475) and Baldassare Malamini (1596) are contemporary with the compositions performed on them here.