The appointment in 1527 of Adrian Willaert as maestro di cappella at San Marco heralded the start of a new era for music in Venice. His arrival from Rome meant the city’s music was led for the first time by a musician of genuine international repute (his predecessors being the relatively little-known Petrus de Fossis and Pietro Lupato). Doge Andrea Gritti had intervened personally in the decision, overruling the procurators to ensure Willaert got the post.

Willaert remained in post until his death in 1562, during which time he became the acknowledged leader of a distinct group of musicians known as ‘Willaert’s circle’. The virtuoso Venetian wind and string player Silvestro Ganassi testified to Willaert’s pre-eminence in the 1540s, declaring:

The head of our collegium is Mr. Adrian [Willaert], who cannot be praised too highly. He is a new Prometheus of heavenly harmony; he puts the past to shame, bestows glory on the present and is master of what is yet to come.

This event focuses on Willaert’s rarely-performed sacred music, including some of his motets for 6 and 7 voices. We will also look at works by Willaert’s teacher, Jean Mouton (1459-1522). 

About Gawain Glenton

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Gawain Glenton’s work as a soloist and ensemble musician takes him all over the world. He has performed and recorded with international ensembles such as Il Giardino Armonico, l'Arpeggiata, Concerto Copenhagen, Les Talens Lyriques and Concerto Italiano. Gawain is co-director of The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble with whom he has recorded several acclaimed CDs. He is also the founder/director of In Echo, whose debut CD 'Music in a Cold Climate' (Delphian) received stellar reviews and broke into the top-10 of the UK classical charts. In the UK, Gawain also works with ensembles such as Arcangelo, The Illyria Consort, La Nuova Musica, The Taverner Consort, The Dunedin Consort and I Fagiolini.

Gawain’s 2021 debut recital album The Myth of Venice (Delphian) is the first solo cornetto disc to be released by a UK performer in almost a quarter of a century. The Myth of Venice is a collaboration with Silas Wollston which uses a collection of unique copies of historical keyboard instruments to explore the innovative world of 16th-century Venetian music-making.

Today Gawain is a busy choir conductor and workshop leader. His research in the field of ornamentation has also led to him being in demand as a coach for singers and instrumentalists.