Puccini as an organ composer
Before his masterpieces for the opera stage, the young Giacomo Puccini also wrote works for organ.
For those who rub their eyes when looking at this score, let it be said right up front: Yes, it is the composer of Tosca or Turandotand no - the 7 sonatas, 6 versetti and 4 marches published here have little to do with Puccini's style as we know it from the opera stage. As a descendant of a family of musicians who shaped the musical life of the city of Lucca for four generations - his father was a cathedral organist, among other things - Giacomo Puccini certainly came into contact with church music at a very early age, learned to play the organ and made his first public appearance as an organist. From 1872 to 74, he was employed as assistant organist at the cathedral and worked at the church of San Girolamo until 1882. The hitherto unpublished total of 61 organ works, of which Carus presents a selection here, also appear to date from this period; a complete publication seems to be planned in the Puccini Complete Edition.
Even if one still senses little of Puccini's later tonal refinement, with these works he joins a tradition that was shaped by composers such as Vincenzo Petrali or Padre Davide da Bergamo: lively little movements reminiscent of brass music or Rossini operas, short and easy to play throughout, which reveal a confident composer who was already writing with aplomb and here and there even hint at a return to a more "serious" style of church music composition. Incidentally, the Dutch organist Liuwe Tamminga, who works in Bologna, has also released a recording of these works on the Passacaille label (PAS 1029). Thanks to organs that Puccini may have known or played, it gives a good impression of how even music that seems somewhat simple on paper can be orchestrated magnificently on a suitable instrument. A valuable addition to the Italian repertoire, for once by a great and well-known composer, versatile for use in church services and concerts - and guaranteed to be a success!
Giacomo Puccini: Sonata, Versetti, Marce - Selected organ works, edited by Virgilio Bernardoni, CV 18190, € 28.00, Carus, Stuttgart 2018
