Elegant Baroque sonatas for violin and basso continuo by a pair of little-known brothers, Pietro and Prospero, who belonged to Handel’s circle of talents in 18th-century London. Pietro (1679-1752) and Prospero (1690-1760) Castrucci belong to the generation of virtuosos who connected the development of violin playing from Corelli to Tartini, and took the Italian style abroad, combining it with the latest musical fashions of the time. Born in Rome, they studied with Corelli, but moved to London in 1715, which had become a European capital for music primarily thanks to the patronage of the English aristocracy and the celebrity figure of Handel. The Castrucci brothers played in Handel’s orchestra at the Royal Academy for the next 20 years, and Handel wrote obbligato parts for them in his operas. Prospero published only one collection, of six sonatas, in 1739; he seems to have been the more conservative of the two brothers, writing in a style reminiscent of his teacher Corelli, albeit decorated with bold flourishes characteristic of Veracini and Locatelli. The more innovative of the two was Pietro, who became more famous, wrote more prolifically and was published well beyond London. His violin writing is a crucible of invention, featuring bold strokes such as multi-tempo movements, arpeggiated chords on three strings, unisons with basso continuo, inverted mordents, and the kind of ‘arco battuto’ writing that Beethoven would later emulate. A pupil of Giuliano Carmignola, Marco Pedrona founded Ensemble Guidantus in 1995, specialising in music of the Italian Baroque. With them he has performed across Italy and further afield, giving highly praised performances of the canonic repertoire from Corelli to Pergolesi but also reviving many figures such as the Castrucci brothers.

Our successful Reger edition can finally continue, and critics continue to be more than enthusiastic about the previous installments, Musik & Theater even claiming, "These recordings are among the best currently available in organ music by Reger." And now the penultimate volume No. 8. The focus is on Reger's op. 67. In May 1901, Reger informed Straube of his intention to "write 30 chorale preludes to the best-known chorales." Over time, the project grew to 52 preludes. In the letter of October 22, 1902 to the publishing house Lauterbach & Kuhn in Leipzig, Reger wrote with regard to the collection Zweiundfünfzig leicht ausführbare Vorspiele zu den gebräuchlichsten evangelischen Chorälen op. 67 that he could "probably say without arrogance that no such collection has been published since J. S. Bach." In fact, Reger is to be agreed here without any reservations: Reger's op. 67 was a work that can be compared to Bach's "Orgelbüchlein" in terms of content as well as scope and pedagogical intention.

Volume 9 & finale of the long-running series! The volcanic presence of composer Max Reger from the Upper Palatinate region of Germany does not make things easy for his interpreters or his listeners. Almost everything he wrote features such a bounty of musical ideas that only gradually is the persona behind it revealed. The organist Gerhard Weinberger is among those who have the proven ability to break through this facade. On his CDs no. 17 and 18, which comprise the ninth volume of this complete recording of colossal proportions, he also proves himself to be the ideal medium of a world view in which all is in continuous and inextinguishable motion. He has the organs of Chemnitz and Schwyz at his disposal – two stylistically appropriate instruments to produce the perfect Reger experience.

The featured work on this album of compositions by Justin Dello Joio is the American composer's new piano concerto; "Oceans Apart"; composed for keyboard titan; Garrick Ohlsson. Ohlsson is joined by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; conducted by Alan Gilbert; the artists who premiered the concerto in 2023. The program also includes chamber works performed by the New York Philharmonic's principal cellist; Carter Brey; with pianist Christopher O'Riley; and the American Brass Quintet; and organist Colin Fowler. For more information see www.justindellojoio.net

The pieces presented here are ascribed to a composer whose life appears to be both mysterious and adventurous: quite little of Agostino Tinazzoli is known, including biographical details such as his occupations, teachers and places of residence (except for limited, incomplete information). However, some unusual facts preserved through his music illustrate that this composer had no ordinary life. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians informs us that Agostino Tinazzoli was born in Bologna during the second half of the 17th century, quite possibly around 1660. Most of the works attributed to Tinazzoli concern sacred music, including various oratorios (such as Il sacrifizio di Gefte), and masses (such as an incomplete Requiem). This collection of solo keyboard music comes from two manuscripts currently preserved in Münster and Bologna. The former contains all the pieces included in the two CDs, while the latter includes Toccata No.18 and a larger version of the Toccata No.17 including all the movements performed (the Münster manuscript contains only the first movement). Four of the pieces of the collection are specified for the organ, and they are intended to be used during the Mass: there are two Offertorios, one Elevazione and a Post Agnus, and all of them are titled Sonata.

Tinazzoli assigns the terms Sonata, Toccata, and Capriccio to these pieces (except for the Passagallo), but there is seemingly no criteria for the choice of name. The collection employs a wide range of styles and formal structures: there are concerto-like pieces (Toccata No.17, Sonata no.4), as well as fugato pieces (Sonata No.11), and dance movements (for example, the Sarabanda in Sonata No.4, or the concluding Minuetto in Capriccio No.3). While we are unable to determine a precise timeframe of composition, it seems that even if the pieces may have been composed in disparate years Tinazzoli remained well informed throughout his career about the stylistic developments occurring in Italy and Europe in his day: the organ pieces, for example, adhere to the late-18th-century style, which was fundamentally more operatic. The most important feature of these pieces, however, is the pervasive employment of basso continuo: the pieces are almost constantly notated in two voices (treble and bass) but with figured bass numerals throughout. In this collection, Pierini has employed basso continuo and improvisation features in the most stylistically appropriate way, considering the wide range of styles included.

The pieces presented here are ascribed to a composer whose life appears to be both mysterious and adventurous at the same time: little of Agostino Tinazzoli (ca 1660-1725) is known, as concerns biographical details such as his living places, his teachers, and the job positions he held. However, some unusual facts preserved through his music make clear that this composer probably had no ordinary life: during his stay in Rome he probably committed, or was involved, in an unspecified crime: for this reason, he got incarcerated in Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome, which during Tinazzoli’s time was partly used as a city jail. Here he continued to compose: his cantata “In Carcere penoso” was written with carbon on the prison wall, and its beauty prompted his immediate release from jail. This collection of Tinazzoli’s keyboard music employs a wide range of styles and formal structures: we have concerto-like pieces (Toccata No.17, Sonata no. 4), as well as fugato pieces (Sonata No.11), and dance movements (the Sarabanda in Sonata No.4). The most important feature of these pieces, however, is the massive employment of basso continuo: the pieces are almost everywhere notated in two voices (treble and bass), but continuo numeration is employed everywhere. This means that the performer has to add other voices, or remove them in order to make dynamic effects, and sometimes even to improvise counterpoint, according to stylistic continuo rules in early 18th century’s Italy.

Born in Rome in 1996, Simone Pierini began studying music at the age of eight. Aged eighteen, he graduated in piano at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music, Rome, with highest honors, and consequently took part in masterclasses and post-graduate courses. He afterwards grew interest in historically informed piano practice, attending masterclasses led by Alexei Lubimov, Andreas Staier, Tobias Koch, Stefano Fiuzzi. Subsequently, his interest about historical keyboards in general grew further, and he began studying harpsichord and basso continuo with such teachers as Andrea Coen and Giovanni Togni. He builds an active concert career.

Pál Hermann, born in Budapest in 1902, was not only one of the leading cellists of his generation; he was also an important composer, one of the major figures in Hungarian music in the generation after his teachers Bartók and Kodály. But since only two of his works were published before his early death – in 1944, at the hands of the Nazis – and many more of them were lost, he has not had the esteem that he deserves. The works on this second volume of his surviving compositions – mostly chamber works for strings, several in their first recordings – have the wiry humour, sprung and spiky rhythms and Hungarian melos that mark him out as a worthy successor to Bartók – and hints at how much was lost with his murder.

The organ played a relatively large part in Franz Liszt’s oeuvre, and there are dual organ and piano versions of a number of his works, but some of the pieces specifically intended for piano also translate well to the organ.

This album consists of four organ transcriptions of such piano works. It begins with a wedding (Sposalizio) and ends with a funeral procession (La lugubre gondola), both life moments often associated with church and therefore with the organ, and Liszt employs a church-bell motive in them. In the Sposalizio, as well as in the Adagio (Consolation in D flat) that follows on this programme, there is a typical 19th-century musical religiosity that was also very characteristic of Liszt. His monumental Sonata in B minor is then succeeded by La lugubre gondola, a dark epilogue once again emphasising Liszt’s musical progressiveness and emotional depth.

The heart of this album is the Sonata in B minor in a new transcription. Although it has already been transcribed for organ, the present transcription is specifically intended for the 18th- or 19th-century Dutch metropolitan type of organ, an outstanding example of which is the main organ at the Domkerk (St. Martin’s Cathedral), Utrecht. There is even a historical link between this particular instrument and Liszt’s organ repertoire. In the summer of 1856, Liszt’s student Alexander Winterberger (1834–1914) undertook a tour of the Netherlands, including a performance at the Utrecht Domkerk, which was positively received by the press, with Liszt, too, enthusiastic.

Choro et Organo by Bernardino Bottazzi (1560–1614) may be considered the most extensive and best-known collection of Italian organ works from the early 17th century. In the beautiful edition printed by Giacomo Vincenti, the musical notation used relates to a tradition that is more Renaissance than early baroque: namely, Italian tablature for organ (in this case, with an eight-line stave for the left hand and one of five lines for the right). There are 22 hymns in Choro et Organo. For some of these, Bottazzi’s organ verset is identical, for example Christe Redemptor omnium, whose melody is the same as that sung for the feast of All Saints although with a slightly different text. We know for certain that vocal forces and organ followed a pattern of alternation which, in Bottazzi’s case, seems fully in line with the practices as evidenced by analogous works from the same period: 5 versets for the Kyrie, 9 for the Gloria, 2 for the Sanctus and just 1 for the Agnus Dei, given that – according to Adriano Banchieri (1608) – the last of the three Agnus Dei would be replaced by an organ composition, generally a canzona. It is possible that a collection of canzonas, as well as a number of Magnificats and ricercars, might have formed the basis of a hypothetical second book of Choro et Organo, given that the title on the frontispiece incorporates the standard term of ‘Libro Primo’. Regrettably, we have no information, either on such a follow-up publication, nor indeed about Bottazzi’s own life, other than his self-description as coming from Ferrara (which may only have been a city he resided in or where he took his religious vows rather than where he was actually born). Before each of the organ versets, the beautiful edition of Choro et Organo always presents the melody in cantus firmus, written on a five-line stave. In his introductory text (‘To the gentle reader’), Bottazzi states that he ‘was resolved to have this part of the cantus firmus printed’ so as to circumvent the organist from playing the verset in question at such a pitch as to impede the choir from singing their own melodic part well (‘[…] if the cantus firmus is at one pitch, & the Organist plays it at another, it is impossible for the Chorister to find the correct note’). This unusual feature has allowed the cantus firmus part to be reconstructed with historical accuracy and for it to be sung according to the performance style that emerges from the vast instructional literature on cantus firmus that was produced in Italy during the 17th century. For the number of pieces and the completeness of the repertoire gathered in a single volume, the Choro et Organo by Bernardino Bottazzi (Venice 1614), can be considered the largest and best known Italian collection of organ works intended explicitly for the liturgy of the first three decades of Seventeenth century. Bottazzi's intentions are based on the directions by the Council of Trent which lay out the new rules and specifications of Liturgical Music. To the anthology of organ works the Choro et Organo prefaces an introduction and eighteen Avvertimenti that illustrate the principles of canonical counterpoint (with the intention of educating the organist on the method of composing and improvising from still chant) and offer some suggestions on how to diminish certain melodies and add embellishments. This new recording presents choral works and organ works written by Bottazzi, all splendid examples of Italian sacred music in the transition from Renaissance to Baroque. Played on a rare historic organ: The organ at the church of S. Bernardino da Siena. Played and sung with total dedication and deep knowledge of the style by organist Federico Del Sordo and Nova Schola Gregoriana conducted by Alberto Turco, who already successfully recorded similar repertoire for Brilliant Classics: Organ Alternatim Masses by Merulo, Fasolo and Salvatore. The scholarly written liner notes are by the artists.

In his own lifetime (1839–1901), Joseph Rheinberger was more sought after as a professor of organ and composition than he was recognized as a great composer. His roll call of students at the conservatoire in Munich was long and impressive, including Humperdinck, Wolf-Ferrari and Furtwängler. However, Rheinberger produced a significant catalogue of sacred music in particular, concentrated on choir and organ. Sometimes unfavourably compared to Brahms, he is more usefully regarded as a south-German Fauré – for the gentle contours of his melodies and the softly rounded quality of his choral writing.

The principal work on this new album is the Mass for four-part men’s chorus which he composed in 1898, and which has become a staple of the male chorus repertoire around the world. By no means as staid or sober as its scoring might suggest, the Mass is a work of resonant beauty and sweetness, a concise and elegant demonstration of Rheinberger’s melodic gifts and his embodiment of Catholic values in the secular musical culture of late 19th-century Germany.

This newly recorded album makes an ideal introduction to the world of Rheinberger through its diversity. The Mass is complemented by a radiant partsong, Abendfriede, and a setting of the Ave Maria all the more affecting for its devotional simplicity, close in spirit to the early motets of Bruckner. Finally, Manuel Tomadin plays the grandest and best-known of the 20 organ sonatas composed by Rheinberger throughout his career. Cast in three movements, No. 19 opens with an imposing Allegro, while the intimate central Provenzalische finds Rheinberger at his most beguiling as he taps into the folkloristic culture of German Catholicism. Prefaced by a broad introduction, the chromatic counterpoint of the finale approaches Reger for hard-won transcendence, played here on the organ of the Church of Maria Ausiliatrice in the Slovenian town of Vipava.

Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) was a German romantic composer of mainly works for the organ, his own instrument. He was one of the leading figures in the “Cecilian Movement” which, in a world of increasing secularization, propagated the return to religious values of the past, expressing itself in a renewed interest in Gothic architecture and polyphony. Rheinberger’s works are a happy blend of the Romantic spirit of his time and a healthy dose of polyphony and counterpoint, in this he was a worthy successor of Felix Mendelssohn. This new recording presents a selection of choral music and organ works, the two genres in which Rheinberger excelled and for which his fame is undisputed. Included are the Mass for Male Choir and Organ Op. 190, Ave Verum, the popular Abendfriede for organ and the mighty Organ Sonata No. 19 in G minor.

Music of great warmth and sensitivity, quintessentially romantic, played by organist Manuel Tomadin on the 1897 Goršic organ at the Church of Maria Ausiliatrice, Vipava, Slovenia, the specifications of which are included in the booklet. The male choir “Il polifonico” is conducted by Fabiana Noro.

La Nuova Musica and its artistic director David Bates present Henry Purcell’s most widely admired work, Dido and Aeneas. With Nathum Tate’s libretto based on Virgil’s Aeneid Book IV, Dido and Aeneas is a miniature opera, as well as the only all-sung opera Purcell ever composed. Constantly juxtaposing different moods, colors, and orchestrations, this semi-opera enjoys popularity for its “tunefulness, evocative power, and […] conciseness”. The guiding star that David Bates wants to follow for this recording: making sure that Purcell’s Italian, French, and English musical influences are all emphasized – by adding a typically Italian harp to the continuo and by doubling the strings just as in the French tradition, for instance.

Dido and Aeneas includes one of the most touching operatic laments, “When I am laid in earth”. A cast of first-class singers with strong musical personalities offer an eclectic interpretation together with a chorus that creates a visceral and intrinsically dramatic soundworld. Dido and Aeneas is David Bates and La Nuova Musica’s fourth release; here, star tenor Nicky Spence, Fleur Barron, Matthew Brook, and Giulia Semenzato all make their Pentatone debuts.

REVIEWS:

The suspense, vibrancy and richly layered musical textures of chorus and band have no equal in the discography. The Witches’ scene is an exuberant Gothic festival, with creepily dilating long notes and weird sound effects – thumps, jangles, wind machine noises – tucked deftly into the score.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Johann Schneider was a German organist, violinist and composer (1702, Lautertal–1788, Leipzig). He was a pupil of Nicolas Mueller in his hometown and continued his studies with Johann Hartmann Reinmann in Saalfeld between 1717 and 1720. Around 1720, he became Johann Sebastian Bach's organ and harpsichord pupil in Köthen. In conjunction with his keyboard work with Bach, he studied violin with Johann Gottlieb Graun in Merseburg and with Johann Graf in Rudolstadt. In 1721, Johann Schneider became court organist and first violinist (concertmaster) in Saalfeld in his native Coburg. From 1726 he was employed as violinist in the court chapel in Weimar (Weimarer Hofkapelle), and he was later appointed organist of the Nicolaikirche in Leipzig in 1729, holding this position for the rest of his career. Schneider achieved a commendable reputation as a truly great organist, as Lorenz Mizler quotes: 'His organ preludes are of such good taste in this field, with the exception of Mr. Bach, whose pupil he was, that one cannot hear better in Leipzig'. A small number of his works are contained in the manuscript Mus. Ms. 30377, preserved in the Berlin State Library. His style shows a correlation with that of J.S. Bach, but the influence of the Galant style is also detected in various moments of his music. Johann Philipp Kirnberger was born in Saalfeld in 1721 and died in Berlin in 1783. He received his first training in harpsichord and violin within his family and then continued his studies with the organist Johann Peter Kellner in Gräfenroda. In 1738, he was an organ pupil under Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber in Sondershausen, then pursued further studies with Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig between 1739 and 1741, which proved pivotal to his development. More than a composer, he is remembered as a 'witness' to Bach's work: he took charge of copying much of his master's music. He kept the manuscript of the Brandenburg Concertos and collected several chorales known today as the 'Kirnberger Chorales' in which we find BWV numbers 690 to 731a – sincerely feeling himself vested with the mission of divulging Johann Sebastian Bach's greatness. His personality was that of a didact, and his compositions are predominantly the consequence of his treatises (L'arte di comporre bene, 1774/79). This attitude is exemplified in the Clavierübung compiled between 1762 and 1766 containing pieces structured in order of increasing difficulty and carefully fingered according to the precepts of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He wrote only a handful of pages for organ: a few sporadic preludes to chorales, the eight fugues for organ or harpsichord (featured on this CD) and a 'Clavierfuge mit dem Contrapunct in der Oktava'. His figure is thus summed up not so much in an innovative spirit as in that of a person careful to pass on the inheritance he received.

Westminster Choir 100th Anniversary Recording

Music has the ability to illuminate aspects of the human condition in ways that only sound married to texts can achieve. One of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century, William Sloan Coffin, often remarked that music in most cases was more powerful than the spoken word. This recording represents just that. All the music on this recording reflects, in sound, that serenity (and, yes, beauty) is within all of us if we choose to go there. This recording celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Westminster Choir in 1920 by John Finley Williamson, albeit a bit later.

The music of Théodore Dubois (1837–1924) has rather been overshadowed by that of other French composers of the same period, not least Fauré and Saint-Saëns. But Dubois does not deserve his relative neglect: not only was he a superlative craftsman, but he could also unfold a fetching melody and had a strong sense of musical narrative. This recital of chamber works for oboe and strings is noteworthy for a further quality, one often underestimated: much of the music is, quite simply, charming.