Ivan Ronda - Ferrari, Bacchini, Bertuletti, Macchia, Lo Muscio: Tabula Summa (Contemporary Organ Works) (2020)

Written for Ivan Ronda, Toccata gotica is a work permeated with Medieval atmospheres. It is a tripartite Toccata, made of an initial section, forte and animated, a central section with a motion by fifths with an archaic flavour, and a final reprise. The stylistic profile of the piece is outlined through the use of the typical Landini cadence, which confers to the piece its distinctive Medieval character. Organ on Rag is an organ ragtime inspired by the typical climate of Afro-American music, but also to the aural universe of the barrel organs. It is a joyful, lively and syncopated piece. The title is a wordplay, since “on Rag” is the anagram of “Organ”. Toccata, corale e fuga sopra Fra Martino is a tripartite piece centered on what is possibly the universal melodic paradigm, a theme known by all. Fra Martino (the Italian name for the French tune known as Frère Jacques) is treated here in the form of a toccata in the first movement of the tryptich, and in the form of a two-part fugue (the so-called bicinium) in the finale. The two movements, which employ the tune respectively in a binary (as in the original) and in a ternary tempo, frame the central section, where the theme is elaborated in its inverted form; an expressive and cantabile chorale is built on its melodic unfolding.

The musical works by Roberto Bacchini belong in the collection Composizioni organistiche published by Armelin Editore in 2015. Cantabile no. 1, Gesù caro amico and Cantabile no. 2, Signore ascolta il tuo popolo are pieces with a meditative character, evoking a song expressing devotion through a refined harmonic and melodic structure, as if in a Bachian chorale. There is therefore constantly a tune, played by the Nazard or Oboe, accompanied by the left hand with sweet stops, in dialogue with the principal melody. The Toccata brevis has a solemn and majestic character; here the principal theme is entrusted to the Pedal with a high-pressure reed, creating short tunes with dotted segments. All of the sixteenth-note quadruplets form an ostinato entrusted to the Manual, which, while creating a harmonic base, also highlights a counterpoint intertwining with the Pedal line. The piece closes with broad D-major chords.

The Prélude-Toccata sur Lobe den Herren is a kind of a free Vorspiel on the famous German hymn of 1680. It is substantially divided into two sections: a first episode with an improvisational character, where it is easy to glimpse an echo of the Baroque-era stylus phantasticus, followed by a second movement whose melody, played by the Pedal, is accompanied by a rhythmic figuration with chords alternatively played by the two hands. The fascinating Berceuse, mostly focusing on delicate sounds, was conceived as a reverent homage to Louis Vierne. The piece is inspired by the great French organist’s composition by the same name (No. 19 of the 24 Pièces en style libre op. 31) and maintains the same character and structure as his model.

The Stille Nacht Suite is an organ piece written specifically for the Composition Competition “200 JAHRE JUBILÄUM STILLE NACHT”, which took place in the city of Burghausen (Germany). The piece is conceived in the form of a suite and is articulated into five movements: Fanfare – Meditation – Scherzo – Ricercare – Toccata, in which it is possible to hear the extremely famous tune, which is elaborated so as to display its most varied timbral and musical possibilities. The Rapsodia Tzigana on “La Campanella” is instead a piece commissioned by the famous organist (and a dear friend of mine) Ivan Ronda. As suggested by its very title, the piece focuses on the Campanella theme (by Paganini/Liszt) and is worked in a rhapsodic form. After a beginning with a free and prelude-like character, the theme evolves (on the stylistic plane) up to the piece’s central section, with an imposing and virtuosic Pedal Solo, until it flows into the concluding final Fugue, whose subject is excerpted from a rhythmic-melodic fragment of the theme itself.

Prelude in memory of Maurice Ravel (2013) pays homage to the memory of the French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). The letters of the name R.A.V.E.L. generate the principal musical material, which is developed according to various contrasting ways, going from the grandiosity up to the vocal-style lyricism and ecstatic meditation. Gothic Dances (2017) is a suite of six organ pieces. Each dance employs harmonies influenced by the Medieval/Gothic music and each is inspired by a painting, an architectural work or a historic figure of the Middle Ages (Piero della Francesca, Charlemagne, Bruegel, Nokter, Antonio da Sangallo).