Venice-Austria: When the Sound of St. Mark's Came Over the Alps

Venetian Polyphony in the Mondsee Basilica – Forgotten Austrian Masterpieces with Marco Gemmani and Three Renowned Ensembles

MONDSEE. When choirs in Venice respond to one another from the galleries of St. Mark’s Basilica, the result is a sound with an extraordinary spatial effect: voices, cornets, and trombones blend into a festive, downright overwhelming musical experience. But this soundscape was not limited to the lagoon city. Composers brought Venetian polychoral music across the Alps and further developed it in Austria.

The “Venice – Austria” concert on Friday, September 25, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. in St. Michael’s Basilica in Mondsee brings this musical connection to life. The program focuses on composers who encountered the new musical language in Venice and adapted it for the Austrian church setting.

A central figure is Anton Blasius Amon (c. 1558–1590). Trained as a choirboy at the Innsbruck Court Chapel, Amon spent several years in Venice between 1574 and 1577. The impressions he gained there had a lasting impact on his work. In particular, he brought the Venetian practice of double choirs back to his homeland, thereby becoming an important bridge between Italian and Austrian church music.

Christoph Sätzl (1592–1655) also exemplifies this development. As a Kapellmeister in Brixen and later in Hall in Tirol, he combined Italian musical innovations with local tradition. His works impressively demonstrate how the influences of Venice gave rise to a distinctively Austrian musical language.

Particularly appealing: Many of the works featured in the concert are virtually unknown today. Numerous compositions by Sätzl have never been published—or only rarely—and have thus disappeared from concert programs over the centuries. Some of these musical treasures are now set to be performed in public again for the first time in centuries.

Marco Gemmani, Maestro di Cappella of St. Mark’s in Venice, tracked them down and compiled them for the concert in Mondsee. Gemmani is intimately familiar with Venetian polyphonic choral music through its direct tradition and has been championing the rediscovery of forgotten works for years. For “Venice – Austria,” he is bringing together musicians from Venice and Mondsee.

With I Cantori Veneziani di San Marco, the Kantorei St. Michael Mondsee, and the Consortium Lunaelacense, an ensemble is formed that brings the historical concept of polyphonic choral music to life. Cornets and trombones lend the vocal sound additional splendor and allow the music of that era to shine in all its colorfulness.

“Venice – Austria” is thus not merely a concert, but a musical quest: How did the sound of St. Mark’s make its way to Austria—and what became of it?