Birth certificate An exclusive concert, mere days before Christmas. On December 20, 21, and 22, St. Mark’s Basilica will host the performance of a piece of music that is seldom executed. Between 1565 and 1584, Claudio Merulo was the first organist at Cappella Marciana (the Basilica’s music performers) and in 1582, he wrote music for Christmas service. In those years, the Cappella Marciana was a centre of musical experimentation, visited by musicians from all over the continent, like the Flemish Orlande de Lassus and Adrian Willaert.

Their innovations reverberated all over the main centres of musical production in Europe. They have been a thing since the fourteenth century and they are today directed by Marco Gemmani. For the upcoming concert, they will be joined by one of the most prestigious institutions for the research and execution of ancient music, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis from Switzerland.