Around 1575 , Giovanni, like his uncle before, went to the Bavarian court and was working under Orlando di Lasso. (Arnold, 1979 p. 9) Andrea had known Lasso in Munich and it is possible that this connection helped Giovanni gain employment at the court. By this time music in Munich had also become much more opulent and there were at least 60 musicians on the court payroll.

Unfortunately, not much is known of Giovanni's time at Munich. Given the musical conditions there, the trip was probably as beneficial for Giovanni as it was for Andrea years earlier. Giovanni left Munich after the death of his patron, Duke Albrecht, in 1579. His whereabouts are unrecorded until 1584 when he again was in Venice.

In 1584, the organist Claudio Merulo resigned his post at San Marco. The resulting vacancy required that a competition be held to find another to fill the post. Andrea was able to have Giovanni fill the post until the competition which was on January 1st, 1585. Not surprisingly, Giovanni won and now uncle and nephew were organists at the church of the patron saint of Venice. Unfortunately, this did not last long because in August of 1585 Andrea passed away. Giovanni held his post until his death in 1612.

Also in 1585, Giovanni was appointed to the organist post at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco a religious confraternity. Interestingly, the man he succeeded was to succeed Andrea at San Marco. This appointment allowed Giovanni to compose music for musical combinations other than those present at San Marco. Much of the music composed for the scuola was ceremonial in nature and could be quite lavish at times. Giovanni got on well at the scuola and remained at that post at the rest of his life.

If holding two posts simultaneously and composing grand ceremonial music wasn't enough, Giovanni also taught music. He was one of the most famous teachers of his time. One of Giovanni's most famous pupils was Heinrich Schutz in whose music can sometimes be heard the echoes of a Venice long gone.

Gabrieli is famous for being one of the first composers to specify instrumentation and volume markings in his music. He was probably the first composer to do so to achieve a particular sonic end, especially in his instrumental music. In this respect his music was forward looking even though it was the last word of an era.