This is a texted battle piece in 8 parts which is more varied and interesting than many of the purely instrumental battle pieces.
It comes from the second book of the Concerti di Andrea et di Giovanni Gabrieli, published in Venice in 1587.
It is one of the most varied and colourful of the many battle pieces of the Renaissance, with much word-painting. Indeed there is a great deal more musical substance here than in the same composer’s purely instrumental Aria della Battaglia. There is some common material with Janequin’s La guerre, which seems to be the central piece in the whole battaglia repertoire.
