On July 28, 2002, I had the good fortune to play a recital on two historic organs as part of the 15th annual International Festival of Historic Organs in Valsesia in the Piedmont region of Italy. Mario Duella, the founder and artistic director of the Festival, had invited me to participate as part of a reciprocal arrangement. From its beginnings in 1978 as a local event with five concerts, the Festival has become international in scope and this summer included 25 recitals on 26 instruments in 22 towns in the valley of the Sesia River. This region northwest of Milan is incredibly beautiful, with Alpine peaks, clear air, and rushing streams. Tourists come from every part of Europe to enjoy the scenery and miles of hiking trails. But the riches of the region are cultural as well as natural, and the former include centuries-old churches laden with art, precious artifacts, and organs.
Organbuilding in the Valsesia area began in the 1600s with artisans from Milan.1 Native builders began to flourish in the first half of the 18th century and even the smallest parish churches contained organs by the 19th century. Restorations and alterations seemed to begin soon after the organs were installed, and the two processes continued hand in hand until the mid-twentieth century. The number of organs in Valsesia increased steadily for three hundred years, beginning in 1601. A 38-year hiatus before and after World War II marked the only interruption in organbuilding activity. Restorations began again in 1975 and continue today. The most recent restoration, by the Novarese firm Krengli, is that of an instrument (1821) by Luigi Maroni Biroldi at the Church of Santa Croce in Rassa. Mario Duella played the dedicatory recital on August 2.
Mario Duella lives in Pray, one of the Valsesia towns, but his grandmother came from Rassa, farther west. He has a great love for his native region and is concerned about preserving the organ culture of the area. His efforts to call attention to instruments in need of repair has resulted in many successful restorations during the past 15 years. These instruments are then featured on the concert series he began. The Festival is supported by the Piedmontese regional government in conjunction with the Cultural Association for Historic Organs in Piedmont, a non-profit group. Other government bodies, principally the Province of Vercelli and the Mountain Commune of Valsesia, also lend financial support.
My recital began in the ancient Cappella di Santa Marta, an oratory in the church of San Giacomo in Campertogno, on an 18th-century organ (maker unknown) that was restored by Italo Marzi in 1981. The instrument has 50 keys (C1 to F5) on one manual with a pull-down pedal. Both manual and pedal have a short octave. The seven stops include a Principale 8', Ottava 4', Decimaquinta 2', Decimanona (11/3'), Vigesimaseconda (1'), Voce Umana, and Flauto in Ottava 4'. The most memorable registrations are the Principale with Voce Umana, a hauntingly beautiful sound unique to Italian organs, and the Flauto in Ottava 4', which has a very pure sound. On this instrument, I played Sweelinck's variations on Onder een linde groen, a toccata by Bernardo Pasquini, and All'Elevazione and All'Offertorio by Domenico Zipoli. The meantone tuning made the dissonances of the Offertorio extremely pungent. Hearing them, one can understand why medieval theorists characterized tritones as the diabolus in musica.
After this initial portion of the program, we moved through a corridor into the sanctuary proper which houses an electropneumatic organ (1937) by Krengli. One of the last organs built before the war, this instrument is one of the most recently restored (2000) by the same firm. The organ comprises two manuals of 61 keys (C1 to C6) and a full pedal division. The stoplist is as follows:
Grand'Organo
16' Principale
8' Diapason
8' Dulciana
8' Flauto
8' Unda Maris
4' Ottava
21/2' Duodecima
2' Ottavino
Cornetto 3 file [ranks]
Ripieno 6 file
8' Tromba
Organo Espressivo
8' Principalino
8' Bordone
8' Viola da Gamba
8' Concerto Violini
4' Flauto Armonico
Ripieno 3 file [mixture, 3 ranks]
8' Oboe
Pedale
16' Contrabbasso
16' Subbasso
8' Basso
The organ's tonal design reflects both the orchestral taste of the early 20th century and traditional Italian sounds. As one would expect from so many 8' ranks, the sound is both dark and rich in fundamental tone but weak in the upper partials. Other features of the organ include graduated general and divisional pistons (marked piano, crescendo, forte, ripieno) instead of programmable ones, and separate pistons for adding reeds and strings. Blue-tipped stop tabs indicate pedals, pink-tipped ones, manual stops. (It is difficult not to connect this distinctive feature with the Italians' gift for fashion and design.) For this final part of the recital, I played Romantic and contemporary repertoire: Mendelssohn, Prelude and Fugue in G; Bossi, Scherzo in g, op. 49 no. 2; Brahms, Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, op. 122 no. 8, and O wie selig, op. 122 no. 6; Estrada, Chacona, Aspiracion; and Billingham, My Lord, What a Morning and I've Just Come from the Fountain. The acoustics were wonderful, a case of bare stone walls and bare floors creating the perfect atmosphere for the powerful sound of the full chorus, on the one hand, and the sensuous oboe stop, on the other.
The audience for this event was large and appreciative. Many faithfully attend the concerts in the series out of love for music and pride in their region's instruments. One man traveled 50 miles on mountain roads to hear this organ! The ushers for the recital were local women dressed in the traditional costumes of the Valsesia region, and as an extra bonus, they distributed prettily wrapped candy to the concertgoers. Perhaps this is an idea worth exploring for American audiences; i.e., strengthening the association between sweetness and organ music.
Many people contribute to making the Festival a success. Those with whom I came into contact were friendly and helpful at all times. I, a foreigner with minimal Italian language skills, was welcomed as an honored guest. Everyone, including the parish priest who wished me coraggio before I played, the church secretary who unlocked doors and gave me a ride back to Rassa after my practice session, the ushers and friends who accompanied us to dinner at a trattoria after the concert, and above all, Mario Duella, his wife, Franca, and son Luca, who turned pages and assisted me with registration changes, was very hospitable. For those unable to experience these unusual instruments live, three CDs are available: Storici organi della Valsesia (1994; instruments by Vegezzi Bossi, 1911; Mentasti, 1872; and Lingiardi, 1875); Festival internazionale storici organi della Valsesia (1997; an anthology from the first 10 years of the Festival); and Storici organi della Valsesia (2001; instruments by Biroldi, 1822; and Krengli, 1937). For information on next season's Festival, contact Mario Duella at <[email protected]>.
Note
1.
Cesa, Alessandra et al. Organi e organari in Valsesia: Quattrocento anni di attività organaria. Borgosesia: Idea Editrice, 1997.
Regione Piemonte
Provincia di Vercelli
Comunità Montana della Valsesia
Associazione Culturale Storici Organi del Piemonte
XV Festival Internazionale Storici Organi della Valsesia
Borgosesia, Chiesa di Sant'Antonio, Alessandra Mazzanti (Italia)
Campertogno, Cappella di Santa Marta e Chiesa di San Giacomo, Sarah Mahler Hughes (Stati Uniti)
Borgosesia, Chiesa di Sant'Anna al Montrigone, Bernard Brauchli (Svizzera)
Foresto, Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, Robert Grudzien (Polonia)
Valduggia, Chiesa di Santa Maria, Robert Grudzien (Polonia)
Riva Valdobbia, Chiesa di San Michele, Karl Maureen (Germania)
Rassa, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Mario Duella (Italia)
Alagna, Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, Helmuth Luksch (Austria)
Mollia, Chiesa di SS. Giovanni e Giuseppe, Dietrich Oberdorfer (Italia)
Carcoforo, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Carlo Barbierato (Italia)
Scopa, Chiesa di San Bartolomeo, Ansgar Wallenhorst (Germania)
Brugaro, Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate, Stefano Rattini (Italia)
Varallo, Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Luc Ponet (Belgio)
Piode, Chiesa di Santo Stefano, Giovanni La Mattina (Italia)
Crevola, Chiesa di San Lorenzo, Giorgio Fabbri (Italia)
Balmuccia, Chiesa di Santa Margherita, Roberto Padoin (Italia)
Rastiglione, Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo, Sandro Carnelos (Italia)
Scopello, Chiesa della Beata Vergine Assunta, Jean-Marc Pulfer (Svizzera)
Rossa, Chiesa di Maria Vergine Assunta, Roman Perucki (Polonia)
Borgosesia, Chiesa di Santa Marta, Mario Verdicchio (Italia)
Ghemme, Chiesa di Maria Vergine Assunta, Jean-Paul Imbert (Francia)
Romagnano Sesia, Chiesa Abbaziale di San Silvano, Mario Duella (Italia)
Bornate, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Emanuele Cardi (Italia)
Serravalle Sesia, Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, Andrea Macinanti (Italia)
Varallo, Collegiata di San Gauderizio, Winfried Engelhardt (Germania)
For information: Associazione Culturale Storici Organi del Piemonte, tel/fax 01576735, e-mail: <[email protected]>, web: <utenti.tripod.it/storiciorgani>.
