An Introduction to the Organ World and Works of Giuseppe Gherardeschi (1759–1815) Sarah Mahler Kraaz n a perfect world, we organists would Ex. 1. Messa per organo, “Offertorio,” P.I,7 m.1–10 I always be able to play music on the instruments for which it was written. Putting music and organs from the same time and place together produces a beautiful synchronicity, the closest thing to time travel we can experience. Happily, this was recently my fate. What follows is a description of some music and instruments that have expanded my understanding of a particular musical tradition. They will continue to inform my performances. On March 6, I played a recital of Ital- ian music on the Vespers Series of the Giuseppe Gherardeschi Organ Academy in Pistoia (www.accademiagherardeschi. info). Pistoia is a small city in Tuscany ap- proximately 30 miles northwest of Flor- ence. The remains of a medieval wall circumscribe the old town whose Ca- thedral of San Zeno houses a silver altar dedicated to San Jacopo, thereby putting co (1733–1800), who was maestro di cap- Umberto Pineschi’s edition of each of the categories above will high- it on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de pella at the cathedral, and continued with Gherardeschi’s organ works light important stylistic features of the Compostela in Spain. The cathedral, the his uncle, Filippo Maria (1738–1808). That we know anything at all music and the organs for which they former Bishop’s Palace, the Baptistry, The latter, also a Pistoia native, had been about the life and music of Giuseppe were written, beginning with the sona- and the Town Hall, all dating from the a pupil of Giovanni Battista (a.k.a. ‘Pa- Gherardeschi—and consequently, about tas. These all conform to the binary form 13th–15th centuries, surround a central dre’) Martini3 in Bologna from 1756 to the contemporary Tuscan organ—is due and tonal design of the 18th-century piazza that even today dominates the about 1761, when Filippo was admit- to the almost single-handed efforts of keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti center of Pistoia. An open-air fruit and ted to the elite Accademia Filarmonica. Umberto Pineschi. Organist, teacher, and others. vegetable market, shops, restaurants, Giuseppe completed his formal studies scholar, founder of the Gherardeschi and cafes spread out from there in a web with Nicola Sala at the Conservatorio di Organ Academy, and now in “retire- Offertorio, Mass in C: of narrow cobblestone streets. Wednes- Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini, one ment” Director of the Scuola Comunale a representative work day and Saturday mornings are market of three music conservatories in Naples. di Musica e Danza “Teodulo Mabellini” The Offertory in an organ Mass is gen- days, when stalls appear in the centro Upon returning to Pistoia, he married, in Pistoia, Pineschi has worked tire- erally longer and more elaborate than selling everything from clothing to kitch- fathered seven children, and became lessly to locate, preserve, and restore other movements because it provides enware. Bells from the many churches in organist at the church of Santa Maria organs in and around Pistoia. He edited music during the preparation of the Eu- the city mark the passage of time. Pistoia dell’Umiltà. When Domenico Gherarde- the organ works of Gherardeschi for charist. Gherardeschi takes advantage is off the beaten track for tourists. It’s a schi died in 1800, Giuseppe inherited his publication beginning in 1978. The fi rst of these large dimensions by writing the great place to visit if you want to mingle position as maestro di cappella at the ca- collection was followed by a second, Offertorio from the Mass in C as a so- with Italians who live comfortably in the thedral, a post he held until his death. In third, and fourth, but as he confesses nata. The movement begins assertively present while surrounded by the past. the tradition of the Bachs and Couperins in the foreword to the newest edition with strong tonic chords in the left hand The city and neighboring towns are also and other families of musicians at the (in Musiche Pistoiesi per Organo, pub- against clearly articulated right-hand home to a number of historic organs, time, Giuseppe’s son, Luigi (1791–1871), lished by the Fondazione Accademia di rhythms in a 4-bar phrase. This anteced- most of them from the 18th and early and grandson, Gherardo (1835–1905), Musica Italiana per Organo in 2009), ent phrase is answered by a consequent 19th centuries.1 succeeded him. The Gherardeschi men there was “no organized plan, since ev- phrase in a reduced texture and registra- all composed sacred vocal and instru- ery time only the pieces considered in- tion, much like a dialogue between the Giuseppe Gherardeschi mental music, much of which survives in teresting at the moment were selected.” tutti and solo parts of a concerto (Ex- A brief biography in the New Grove the cathedral archives. Giuseppe did not Further, he adds, “Their context, often ample 1). Indeed, Gherardeschi’s reg- Dictionary of Music and Musicians2 confi ne himself to music for the church, crucial for their understanding, was not istration directions support this impres- states that Gherardeschi was an organ- however; fi ve symphonies, all in the taken in[to] account. Such a fragmented sion: initially, he calls for ‘[ri-]pieno con ist, composer, and eventually maestro three-movement fast-slow-fast pattern presentation of the Gherardeschi organ Trombe (trumpet)’ and ‘Timp[ano]’ in di cappella at the cathedral; except for a favored by Giovanni Battista Sammartini works did not allow one to fully appre- the pedal, which would be the equivalent brief period of study in Naples, he spent and other 18th-century Italian compos- ciate both their lesson on the Pistoiese of a full orchestra. The second phrase his entire life in Pistoia. He began his ers, survive, as do numerous arias, cham- organ and the artistic relevance of the is labeled ‘p[ieno] senza ripieno [i.e., musical studies with his father, Domeni- ber music, and oratorios.4 composer.”5 Pineschi here refers to the without the Trombe] e senza ped[ale]’. symbiotic relationship between organ Without the trumpet (soloist) and pedal music and the instruments for which it + timpani, the effect is of an echo. This was written, in this case Pistoiese organs alternation continues throughout both The 2012 Miami International of the 18th and early 19th centuries. sections of the Offertorio. The texture These defi ciencies are addressed in the is open, treble-dominated, and non- new edition, which is the basis for the contrapuntal; occasional octaves in the Organ Competition discussion that follows. manuals add a bit of dramatic emphasis The present volume brings together at times. Harmonically, the music is pre- $IVSDIPGUIF&QJQIBOZt.JBNJ 'MPSJEB all of Gherardeschi’s known composi- dictable, with the fi rst (A) section ending tions for organ, including some that have in the dominant key of G major. The B never been published. The pieces appear section opens in G minor, however, and in the same order as in the manuscripts. moves to d, a, and F before returning via 'JOBMTt.BSDI Pineschi identifi es several groupings by the dominant G to C. 1SFMJNJOBSZSPVOEBQQMJDBUJPO genre: 1. Sonatas; 2. Masses in C and D The energy, rhythmic drive, clear (Offertorio, Elevazione, and Postcom- tonal design, and concerted style of NBUFSJBMTEFBEMJOF%FDFNCFS munio) and a Mass in E-fl at that has the Offertorio reveal how steeped versets for alternatim performance with Gherardeschi was in the music of Corel- 'JSTU1SJ[Ft the Ordinary; 3. Collections of versets; li, Vivaldi, and Sammartini. Written at 4. Miscellaneous short pieces, including the end of the 18th century, as Vienna QMVTBOJOWJUBUJPOUPQMBZBGVMMMFOHUI a colorful Sonata per organo a guisa di and Paris were eclipsing Italy in the de- SFDJUBMPOUIFDPODFSUTFSJFT banda militare che suona una Marcia, velopment of instrumental music, these two pastorales, and a fugue in G minor. pieces remind the listener of the connec- Each piece has been assigned an opus tions among the various schools. XXXSVČBUUJDPN.*0$IUNM number (a P followed by a number). The concerto and symphony are not Strict classifi cation according to this the only models for this music, how- scheme is impossible, however, since two ever. Pineschi observes that the infl u- of the sonatas (P.IV [1787]) are rondos ence of opera and the theatre is clear and a number of the Mass movements in the Masses: “Indeed, the Offertori (the Elevazione in D, P.I,5; the Offer- show the infl uence of the overture, the torio in C, P.I,7) are sonatas. Elements Elevazioni and the Benedizioni that of of secular genres, including the concer- the romanza, while the Postcommunio to, aria, and symphony, also defi ne and echoes the always attractive spirit of the shape these pieces in a manner surely cabaletta; all, however, display whimsy, intended to entertain as well as sanctify balanced proportions, and, above all, the listeners. good taste.”6 Builders of Fine Pipe Organs to the World Since the purpose of this article is to In fact, two of the three Masses in present an overview, rather than a com- the collection, those in D and C, con- 9LD)DFFLRODWL3DGRYD,WDO\RUJDQV#UXIIDWWLFRP prehensive discussion, of Gherardeschi’s sist of exactly these movements, that is, works, representative examples from Offertorio-Elevazione-Postcomunio. In 26 THE DIAPASON Nov 2011 pp. 26-29.indd 26 10/13/11 11:22:29 AM modern usage, these may stand alone or Table of Mass movements be played in concert as a group of fast- slow-fast movements.