Gawain Glenton and Silas Wollston

When Adrian Willaert arrived at St Mark’s Cathedral in 1527, Venice could at last boast of a musician of international reputation to match its growing image as a ‘city rich in gold but richer in renown, mighty in works but mightier in virtue’.Establishing itself as a world leader in music publishing, and attracting an influx of international musicians, Venice was anything but insular, and became a centre of artistic competition.

Organists would duel to outdo each other in invention and grace; while instrumentalists could show off their improvisational skills to support a lively dance culture on the streets.Intimate yet exuberant, scholarly yet unrestrained, Gawain Glenton and Silas Wollston’s exploration of this often dazzlingly virtuosic repertoire shows how the enduring ‘myth of Venice’ was built as much in sound as in marble.