Concert Band Grade: 5

The current edition of Gabrieli’s Aria Della Battaglia was transcribed for the modern orchestra wind section from the Canto Dialoghi Musicali de Diversi Eccelentissimi Autori: Venice 1590. The work is subtitled “per sonare d’instrumenti da fiato” (“to be played by wind instruments”) and is one in a long line of such descriptive works dating from the sixteenth century with no instrumental designation whatsoever. The popularity of this genre, however, did not fade with the close of the Renaissance. Rather, a rich development continued into the nineteenth century with Beethoven’s Wellington’s Victory, the so-called “Battle Symphony,” being a latter-day example.