Earliest
manuscript|Second
manuscript|Manuscript
sheets|Printed
works|
COMPOSERS
AND THE MUSIC| Italian Text|De
Lorenzi organ 1874|
Vincenzi Marco Home Page
The Parish Archive
For a number of reasons - sheer neglect being not the least of them - very little has survived in the archives of Pescantina. Our knowledge of the music, and more generally of the town's history and traditions, is thus severely limited by lack of documents. The municipal archive was decimated by a fire in 1874. That of the parish has hardly fared better: it was subject to frequent dismemberment and even destruction (for reasons of hygiene) during periodic bouts of the plague.
The extant material in the parish archive includes books on theology and ethics, sermons (dating from 1600 onwards), papal bulls, pastoral letters, baptismal and mortality records (from c. 1600 onwards) and other administrative papers. It also includes an interesting, though as yet uncatalogued, collection of manuscript and printed music, most of it from the 19th century. We are especially fortunate that these pieces - which vividly testify to liturgical customs and musical practices of the past - can now be totally 'restored', for not only the music but also the instrument it was written for have survived.
The earliest manuscript of instrumental music can be dated to the late 18th/early 19th century. It contains the works of 'Sig. Cestana' and Girolamo Girolami. The manuscript, which was drawn up by a single scribe, also contains music by at least one other composer:
- 1r Concerto/pour le Clavessin, ou le Forte-Piano/ avec accompagnement d'un Violon ad libitum/ par Mr. Jean-Marie Roberti
- Allegro spiritoso del Sig.r Cestana
- Adagio (in Fa Magg.)
- Rondò (in Sib Magg.)
- Concerto da Organo
con rinforzo di più stromenti/ del Sig.r
Girolamo Girolami Mod:se/ Tempo Giusto
The manuscript is in a good state of preservation (it was evidently little used) and the handwriting is reasonably neat.
All attempts to discover more about the composers has proved unsuccessful. In all likelihood the manuscript was not actually drawn up in Pescantina, but was brought there either by one of the maestri or organists that took up service at the church or by one of the clerics or seminarists who came to sing and play.
The second manuscript used on this record is a collection of sonatas for organ dated 1877. Its first pages are missing. Each sonata bears only an indication of tempo and (in some cases only) indications of registration; no mention is made of their respective composers. After research in the local archives, the Biblioteca Capitolare and Biblioteca Civica of Verona, some of the composers have been tracked down: Antonio Diana, Giovanni Morandi and Antonio Nardetti.
On separate manuscript sheets are preserved the Sinfonia (attempts to identify the composer have been unavailing) and the Pastorale by Gio. Bonanomi.
The only printed work is the Versetti per Organo Moderno by Girolamo Barbieri, published in Milan by F. Lucca. Again its first pages are missing.
Girolami|Cestana|Diana|Barbieri|Morandi|Anonimo|Bonanomi|Nardetti|
PARISH ARCHIVE| Italian Text
GIROLAMO GIROLAMI (18th century - 19th century). Nothing is known of Girolami's life, except for the abbreviation 'Mod:se' (itself almost illegible) appended to his name by the copyist of the score. This can be read as meaning 'Modenese', but no musician by that name has been traced in the Modena area.
Concerto da Organo (in C major): the phrase added to the title 'con rinforzo di più strumenti' (with the reinforcement of many instruments) here refers to the alternation of soli and tutti passages by means of registration. The piece is very simple in form and introduces variety mainly through dynamic contrast ('forte' and 'dolce', 'tutti' and 'solo'). The only actual stop specification is that of '8va' (i.e. a 4' principal or flute, or both together) at one of the 'solo' passages; here it is also worth observing that the right-hand part extends up to f''', the very top note of Pescantina's 18th-century instrument. Another feature that throws interesting light on contemporary practice is the written out cadenza, presumably drafted by the composer himself.
CESTANA (18th century). Again there is no available information on his life. However, a concerto for harpsichord and orchestra (harpsichord part only extant) by a certain 'Sig. Cestana' has turned up in a manuscript from the library of the Conservatory of Brescia. I owe this information to the Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali of the Conservatory of Milan and to its director, Dr Massimo Gentili Tedeschi.
Three Sonatinas: these three 'sonatinas' (titles given by the player) occupy the central part of the manuscript. Only the first piece ('Allegro spiritoso del Sig.r Cestana') is explicitly ascribed to Cestana; the other two, however, can confidently be attributed to the same composer. The three works (Allegro spiritoso, Adagio, and Rondò andante) are ordered almost as three movements of the same sonata, but are in different keys (C major, F major and B flat major).
ANTONIO DIANA (? - 1862?). Probably a musician of the Bologna area. All we know about him is that he published a Raccolta di composizioni per organo d'ogni genere (Milan: Ricordi, 1862) in two parts. Part One is for the 'organo semplice'; Part Two is for the 'organo moderno' and contains rules on registration, the classification of stops, combinations, imitation effects and the use of the pedal; a third part, for the 'organo corale', was announced but the author's death prevented its publication.
Elevazione: the piece played here is Elevation no. 5 in E minor from Part One. The composer specifies a registration of 'Principali e Voce Umana ovvero Principale e Flauti' and an Andante Mesto tempo. The manuscript differs from the published version in certain details; in particular it has simplified certain passages that require a large extension of the hand.
GIROLAMO BARBIERI (Piacenza, 1808 - Piacenza, 1871). He began his career as maestro di cappella at Caravaggio, subsequently took up the same position in Cremona and finally returned to his home town in 1847. Most of his energies were devoted to the composition of sacred music and piano pieces. He also held a post as organist and took an interest in organ building: he reviewed the inaugurations of new Lingiardi and Serassi organs for the Gazzetta musicale di Milano. His organ works, published by F. Lucca and Ricordi, amount to some 800 pieces.
Versetti: these pieces are drawn from the Third Part of his Versetti per gli Organi Moderni, published by F. Lucca (no date). In it the composer includes interesting suggestions on the registration of the various pieces.
GIOVANNI MORANDI (Pergola, 1777 - Senigallia, 1856). The son of Pietro Morandi (1739-1815, organist and former pupil of the great Padre Martini). Giovanni studied with his father, who then held a post at Senigallia cathedral, and soon helped him out both in the church and at the singing school. He married one of his father's pupils, Rosa Morolli, who became a famous singer and whom he accompanied on tour. On her death (1824) he returned to Senigallia to become maestro di cappella and to teach singing, composition and organ. His sacred music is almost exclusively written in the operatic vein. He also published collections of sonatas in a lively and brilliant style reminiscent of Mozart. His music is published by F. Lucca and Ricordi.
Sonata per il 'Post Communio' (Allegro con brio) in B flat major; part of the Raccolta di sonate per gli organi moderni (Milan: Ricordi, no date).
Marcia funebre (Maestoso) in G minor; from the Raccolta di divertimenti e marcie, per bande militari, ridotti per Organo e Pianoforte.
Sinfonia per organo (performer's title) in B flat major in three sections: Allegro moderato, Allegro vivace, Più mosso.
The piece is copied onto eight pages of manuscript, derived from two sheets of parchment paper folded down the middle (64.5 cm x 24.5 cm). No composer is mentioned, and as yet research in this direction has been to no avail. The work is written onto two staves using the standard treble and bass clefs. There are no other markings and the pages are unnumbered. The neatness of the manuscript suggests that it was drafted by a copyist rather than by the composer himself. Apart from the omission of a few bars (rectified, as far as the right-hand part is concerned, at the bottom of the page), the only errors are occasional, and easily identified, inconsistencies in the notation.
Information on this composer is again lacking, but he was probably a musician working in the Verona area. The manuscript consists of a single folded sheet; the Pastorale is written onto the internal opening. The piece is part of a bequest to the church and the covering page is headed by a pencilled inscription 'in memory of Lorenzo Papa 20/10/886' also found on other scores.
Pastorale in G major, in two parts, both in 6/8 but with different tempos (Andante, Allegretto). The first movement provides simple indications of registration ('I contrabbassi fuori. I Principali fuori), the second gives only general indications of dynamics ('Tenete leggero i bassi. Marcati i canti). Stylistically speaking, the piece is a typical pastorale, uncomplicated in form and easy on the ear.
ANTONIO NARDETTI (? - 1859). Nardetti was second organist at the Basilica del Santo (S. Antonio) in Padua from 1827 to 1857: first as substitute for Carlo Bernardino Lenzi of Bergamo, then as titular organist. He was forced to give up his position when he broke his arm. He died in Venice at the end of 1859. He wrote various masses and 12 sonatas for organ (published by F. Lucca of Milan); recently nine manuscript pieces for two organs have been unearthed in the Archivio Capitolare of Padua Cathedral by Dr Antonio Lovato. He is considered to be the brother of Francesco Nardetti (whose virtuosic organ playing is said to have surpassed his own). Various conjectures have been made about his training, but as Francesco (born in 1781, the son of a harpsichord builder) is known to have been a pupil of Gaetano Valeri and Antonio Calegari (then first organist at S. Antonio), we can assume that Antonio's own studies followed a similar pattern.
The three sonatas found in the Pescantina archive are drawn from the collection of 12 sonatas published by 'F. Lucca'. The manuscript version differs from the printed score in certain points of detail: repeats are added and some evident printing errors are corrected.
Sonata in D major (no. 4 of the set), Allegro moderato. The brief chordal introduction, the dynamic contrasts between soli and tutti and the variety of simple themes make this sonata sound more like an instrumental overture (with very restricted development) than a standard contemporary sonata in binary form.
Sonata in D major (no. 3 of the set), Allegro moderato. As registration the composer indicates a solo 4' flute. The work is divided substantially into two parts: the first is more cantabile and features a contrast between major and minor before the return of the opening theme; the second consists of more brilliant passage-work, highlighting the characteristic tone of the 4' flute.
Sonata in C major (no. 10 of the set), Allegro giusto. Again, as in Sonata no. 4, the style is that of a simple overture rather than a sonata. The piece is divided into two parts, each opening with the same C major introduction. In the first part the theme of the soli ventures into A major, in the second it remains in the home key. It is an ebullient work, closing with a Rossini crescendo.