A bow to the Baroque

With this work, the composer and organist Pier Damiano Peretti, who teaches at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, makes an interesting contribution to the genre of "new music for historical organs" - an idea that is fortunately inspiring more and more composers and will hopefully also have a growing influence on the concert programs of many organists. Peretti starts from a baroque instrument of the southern German-Austrian type, of which there are also several examples in Switzerland, i.e. a two-manual organ with a short octave in the manual and pedal and an unequal temperament in the style of the 18th century. The registration instructions can also be easily realized on smaller instruments. Although a pedal is necessary, it does not take on any special functions, which is also indicated by the title Quasi manualiter which places the work in the Baroque style between "ecclesiastical publicity and domestic privacy" and alludes to the "interchangeability" of keyboard instruments of all kinds at the time.

An etude-like, monotonous first movement opens the cycle, which is followed by a playful little movement for a four-foot flute entitled "fantastico". A movement that oscillates between sarabande ("quasi broken village organ") and agile corrente forms the centerpiece; a short recitative and a dance-like final movement complete the approximately ten-minute work. In these short pieces, which are quite demanding in terms of playing technique and rhythm, Peretti skillfully creates a link between the tonal language of our time and a musical gesture that, while hinting at its historical models, does not come across as "neo-baroque". Conclusion: an enrichment of the repertoire that can be excellently combined with baroque works.

Pier Damiano Peretti: Quasi manualiter for organ, D 02 531, € 14.95, Doblinger, Vienna