musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Ligurian organ treasures
[I] "18th Century Organ Sonatas" ("Ligurian Organ Treasures, Vol. 1")
Rodolfo Bellatti, organ
rec: Nov 22 - 23, 2012, Zoagli (Genua), San Pietro di Rovereto
Da Vinci Classics - C00428 (© 2021) (67'21")
Liner-notes: E
Cover & liner-notes
Spotify
anon:
Cinque Sonate per Cembalo D.G.P.;
Luigi DEGOLA (1771-1862):
Sinfonia per Forte Piano;
Bartolomeo LUSTRINI (18th C):
Sonata per Cembalo [I];
Sonata per Cembalo [II];
Giovanni Battista PREDIERI (1678-1764):
Sonata per il Cembalo solo;
Giovanni ZANOTTI (1738-1817):
Sonata per Organo o per Cembalo
[II] "17th and 18th Century Organ Toccatas, Sonatas, and Canzonas" ("Ligurian Organ Treasures, Vol. 2")
Rodolfo Bellatti, organ;
Luca Dellacasa, chanta
rec: Sept 28, 2021, Santa Margherita Ligure, San Lorenzo della Costa; Sept 29, 2021, Rapallo, Santa Maria del Campo; March 21 - 22, 2022, Santa Margherita Ligure, Oratorio N.S. del Suffragio
Da Vinci Classics - C00930 (© 2024) (71'19")
Liner-notes: E/IT
Cover & liner-notes
Spotify
[in order of appearance]
anon:
Toccata in A la mi re;
[Canzona in A la mi re];
Alessandro SCARLATTI (?) (1660-1725):
[Toccata di] Scarlatti;
Tarquinio MERULA (1595-1665):
Sonata Cromatica ('Del Sig.r Mangiarotti: Per l'Offertorio);
anon:
Missa Orbis factor (Versetti in D la sol re)a (Kyrie; Gloria);
anon:
Toccata [in C sol fa ut];
[Canzona in C sol fa ut];
George Frideric HANDEL (?) (1685-1759):
Toccata 2a Hendel;
anon:
Piva;
George Frideric HANDEL:
Toccata 3a Hendel;
anon:
Elevazione [II];
Antonio Maria TASSO (1703-?):
Sonata con flauti del Sig. Don Ant. M.a Tasso;
anon:
Pastorale;
[Sonata] Allegro;
Sonata allegro
The two discs which are the subject of this review bring us to Liguria, a region in the northwest of Italy, whose capital is Genoa. It has a tradition of its own, both in organ building and composing for the organ. Rodolfo Bellatti plays four organs in Liguria, in Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo and Zoagli respectively, and on the programmes is music from a manuscript that is preserved in the library of Genoa Conservatory. It was compiled in Liguria by several copyists from the second half of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century. It includes music from the region and from elsewhere.
Italian organ building was generally rather conservative: many organs of the 18th century - and even some of the 19th century - are not that different from those built in the previous centuries, including temperature (mostly meantone). And so was the way of notating organ music: the whole collection is presented in Italian keyboard tablature, featuring six staves for the right hand and eight for the left.
The collection consists roughly of two sections: music from the 17th and early 18th centuries and pieces from between 1730 and 1800 written in the galant idiom. Many pieces are anonymous, and some are attributed to composers from Liguria and elsewhere. Most notable among the latter category is George Frideric Handel, spelled 'Hendel'. According to Rodolfo Bellatti, in his liner-notes, the Toccata 3a is part of a Capriccio by Handel. (He does not specify which of the two Capriccios in Handel's work-list.) The track-list mentions the pieces as they are called in the collection.
It makes sense to start with the second volume, as this includes the earliest repertoire. The programme opens with the anonymous Toccata in A la mi re, a specimen of a popular genre among keyboard players of the 16th and 17th centuries, rooting in the practice of improvisation, and that is how this piece sounds. It is followed by a piece without a title, here mentioned a canzona, a genre, which has its origin in vocal music. The third item is a piece attributed to Alessandro Scarlatti. It has no title, but is appropriately called here a toccata. The Italian label Tactus has released a complete recording of Scarlatti's keyboard music, performed by Francesco Tasini. I can't check whether he included this piece in his project. Having heard many of his keyboard works, it seems to be very much like Scarlatti. The first section of the programme closes with a piece to be played during the offertory (Per l'Offertorio). It is attributed to a certain Sig.r Mangiarotti, but it is in fact the Sonata cromatica by Tarquinio Merula. Especially the last section includes strong dissonances, due to the combination of chromaticism and meantone temperament (1/4 comma).
The second section is entirely liturgical: the Kyrie and Gloria of the Missa Orbis factor. This is an example of the alternatim practice in the liturgy: the verses of the two first mass movements are alternately sung in plainchant and performed at the organ. This was a very common practice, and many organ versets for liturgical use are known from Italy and France. They are often performed and recorded separately, but their character only comes off to full effect when the plainchant verses are sung, as is the case here.
The music of these two sections is played on an instrument whose construction was entrusted in 1686 to Giuliano Giovannini, cymbal player at the court of the Medici family of Florence, but brought to completion two years later, in 1688, by Tommaso I Roccatagliata. The latter was strongly influenced by the Flemish organ builder Willem Hermans, who built a number of organs in Italy. It has one manual, divided between treble and bass, and an attached pedal-board.
The next section consists of music from around 1700 of a more secular character. However, one has to keep in mind that there was no strict separation between the sacred and the secular: pieces of a 'concertante' character could be played during the liturgy, just like sonate da chiesa for two violins and basso continuo. First we get another toccata and canzona; the second comes without a title. Next is a toccata attributed to Handel. The work-list at gfhandel.org mentions only one toccata; it is very questionable whether this piece is indeed of Handel's pen. It is in three sections: the first is a toccata in free style, the second is fugal, and the last canzona-like. The fourth piece is called Piva, a dance which has its origin in the 15th century. Originally it was a fast peasant dance, but in the course of time it turned into a more solemn dance, as is demonstrated in the Pifa in Handel's oratorio Messiah. The Piva played here is in three sections: in the first and third the left hand plays a long-held tone, imitating a drone. In the more lively middle section Rodolfo Bellatti uses the uccelliera, an accessory that imitates birdsong.
The pieces in this section are played on an organ built by Francesco Ciurlo in 1793. It has one manual, split into treble and bass, and an attached pedal-board. The temperament is 1/6 comma.
The last section opens with the Toccata 3a by Handel, already mentioned above. It strongly reminds me of the music that was written in Germany in the early 18th century, also because its fugal structure. The second piece is an Elevazione, to be played during the elevation, the ritual raising of the consecrated Sacred Body and Blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist (according to Catholic doctrine). Many such pieces have been written by Italian composers of the 16th and 17th centuries. They have a character of their own, which is easily recognizable, also because they are usually performed with the vox humana, a stop which produces a tremolo sound; that is also how it is played here.
The Sonata con flauti by Antonio Maria Tasso, a Ligurian composer, is written in the galant idiom. During the mid-18th century many composers wrote such pieces, referring to the transverse flute, which was the most popular instrument among amateurs in the galant period. The ensuing anonymous Pastorale is comparable with the Piva mentioned above. It consists of several sections, and in two of them the left hand plays a long-held note. The two sonatas that close the programme are in the same style as the piece by Tasso.
This part of the programme is played on an instrument by Marcello Ciurlo from 1824. This organ attests to the conservatism in Italian organ building, as it has still only one manual, split into treble and bass, and an attached pedal-board. Add to that a meantone temperament (1/4 comma), which had become obsolete in most parts of Europe.
The first volume comprises pieces that are comparable with the works in the last section of Vol. 2, just discussed. All the pieces are sonatas, and they date from the second half of the 18th century. Most of the composers are from other parts of Italy, which is not surprising, given that Genua was a city of international standing. "[Its] most important aristocratic family, the Dorias, had cultural and financial connections throughout Europe. Moreover, a branch of their family, called Doria Pamphilj, had also been occupying first-rank positions in the Church aristocracy of the Roman Curia", Chiara Bertoglio writes in her liner-notes.
One other feature of these sonatas needs to be mentioned. All of them are specifically intended for the harpsichord. The only exceptions are the sonata by Giovanni Zanotti, which mentions organ and harpsichord as alternatives, and the sinfonia by Luigi Degola, which is intended for the fortepiano. However, such indications are mostly not meant to be exclusive; they rather refer to keyboard instruments in general. Moreover, the harpsichord was the most common instrument among amateurs, for whom most of such pieces may have been intended. Only a few owned a fortepiano, and organs were only played by professionals. An argument to play them on the latter is that such music could also be played during the liturgy. In fact, pieces from the second half of the 18th century that were specifically intended for liturgical use, are stylistically hardly different from what we get here. The last item, the Sinfonia per Forte Piano by Degola, is of a very operatic nature, and idiomatically akin to liturgical music of the time.
Giovanni Zanotti was from Bologna, where he worked for most of his life. He was a pupil of Padre Martini, and from 1774 to 1789 he was maestro di cappella of the Basilica San Petronio. Giovanni Battista Predieri was from a dynasty of musicians, and also from Bologna. One of his teachers was Giovanni Paolo Colonna. Like Zanotti, he became a member of the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica. The fact that he was maestro di cappella at six institions attests to his status.
Little is known about Bartolomeo Lustrini, apart from the fact that he has worked in Rome. On the title page of the libretto of an oratorio he has composed, he is called 'Modenese', which indicates that he was born in Modena. This city is part of the region of Emilia Romagna, to which also Bologna belongs. Therefore it makes sense to perform two of his sonatas alongside pieces by Zanotti and Predieri. Where Luigi Degola came from is not known, but he almost certainly was not from Genoa. His Sinfonia per Forte Piano may well be the latest item in the programme.
The five anonymous sonatas are marked 'D.G.P.', which may refer to the composer, but also the copyist or the owner of the manuscript. Chiara Bertoglio states that they seem to have been intended for the fortepiano. The Sonata V, however, is a Pastorale, and its character comes off best if it is performed at the organ. This sonata consists of just one movement in three sections. The other sonatas have two or three movements.
Most of these works are written in the galant idiom, which means that the thematic material is always in the right hand. The role of the left hand is confined to that of a mostly rather simple accompaniment, including here and there Alberti basses. From the 1730s onwards numerous pieces of this kind have been written, and although the prejudice that it is little more than easy stuff for entertainment is one-sided and unjustified, it is certainly true that it is not such a good idea to listen too much of it at a stretch. That also goes for the sonatas played here. And here we come to the advantage of performance on an organ: it allows for different colours to be used, thanks to the various stops. That certainly helps to make it easier to listen to this disc from start to finish in one sitting, as I have done. Unfortunately I could not find any information about the organ, except that it was built in 1849. Given the generally conservative traits in organ building in Italy, it is still entirely suitable for the much earlier repertoire performed here. If I am not mistaken, it is still tuned in meantonne temperament, the effects of which I noted in the last movement of one of the sonatas by Lustrini. It seems to be a two-manual instrument, as especially in the sinfonia by Degola, Bellatti is able to explore the dynamic contrasts the composer requires.
As one may have gathered, these two discs are highly interesting. They are the first of what seems to be planned as a series, performing the entire collection on Ligurian organs. They constitute one reason to recommend these discs to organ lovers. These instruments are largely unknown, certainly outside Italy. The other reason is the collection from which is music is taken, which has never been recorded and is not available in a modern edition, until Bellatti took care of it.
In him we have a skilful guide through the landscape of music and instruments. His playing is lively and well-articulated, and he makes an effective and meaningful use of the stops of the four organs. I am looking forward to further instalments of this interesting project.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)