To deal with the echoing acoustics and widely separated choir lofts of San Marco Basilica, Venetian composers of the late Renaissance developed the «Venetian polychoral» style, where the two widely separated choirs sang separate but overlapping phrases. Claudio Monteverdi, during his time as choirmaster at the basilica, perfected this style as heard in this piece, but he also helped to champion the new «basso continuo» style, heralding the advent of the Baroque period.
