PUBLICATION OF SCORES

Second edition (with additional musical pieces) of the "Piccolo Libro d'Organo" (Little Organ Book) of A. Pierucci

December 2021 - Thanks to the diffusion made by Maestro Paolo Bottini, president of the Italian Organists Association, the first edition of the "Piccolo Libro d'Organo" (published in December 2020) was so successful that it was immediately out of stock. M° Bottini was so generous that he performed all the pieces and put them on youtube, at the disposal of everyone.  

The idea of ​​taking up the motifs of sacred chants to the organ, as in the times of Cavazzoni, Frescobaldi, Bach and contemporaries, fascinated many organists. Everyone is convinced that we must return to this harmonious correspondence, which has practically been lost in the Catholic Church in the last three centuries.

In the new edition of the "Piccolo Libro d'Organo", published in December 2021, there are three new paraphrases to as many melodies; some passages have been retouched, to make them simpler and more evident.

We hope that the Organists will once again welcome the new edition of Armando Pierucci's "Piccolo Libro d'Organo" with enthusiasm.

First publication of the "Piccolo Libro d'Organo" of A. Pierucci 

December 2020 - The Laus Plena Foundation publishes the "Small Organ Book" by A. Pierucci, intended for all church organists. P. Pierucci continues to suggest, as already done with the publication of "Organo Concelebrante "(Armelin Musica, Padua) in 2017, that the organ is the "frame" in which the assembly chant develops, and not the protagonist of the liturgy.

Small Organ Book

As modest as the title seems, the Organists will find it pretentious. In fact, it is the title that J. S. Bach gave to one of his collections of Preludes to the Chorales: Orgelbüchlein (BMW 599 - 644).

Together with the Fiori Musicali by Gerolamo Frescobaldi, the Orgelbüchlein is a typical, exemplary book: it established what organ music must be like when it is celebrated in the sacred Christian liturgy.

Bach's Preludes, such as the Toccatas, the Kyrie and the  Ricercari dei Fiori Musicali, are closely linked to chanting and to the liturgical moment. This harmonious correspondence has practically been lost in the Catholic Church in the last three centuries: there are no compositions that echo, develop or are simply close to the chant of the Congregation. Currently the Organists have not even reconciled themselves with the chants in use: for what they are and for how they are sung. So it happens that the Congregation sings "Lord, you are my Shepherd", and the cultured Organist, having time, plays a Prelude to a Bach Choral; choral that the Congregation neither singsnor knows. So everyone goes about his business. The harmony of a celebration in which the parable of the Ten Virgins was proclaimed, the Congregation sang the choral "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (Get up, a voice calls us), and commented by Bach with a dance step, is unthinkable today.

Here, I have composed some short paraphrases to the chants that are sung today. Of course, the chants are not always beautiful, just as the melodies of Bach's Chorals are not always sublime.

My paraphrases are not relevant either. But it is relevant that the liturgical organ has a cordial understanding with the chanting of the Congregation. Someone will go farther than me, but the direction is this: a harmonious continuity between chant and sound, between the Congregation and the Organist.

I am sure that starting from this intuition of mine, a rich musical culture can flourish, like the one created in Europe by Cavazzoni, Merulo, Frescobaldi, Bach, Pachelbel, Bohm, Handel, Mendelssohn, Couperin.

Sassoferrato, December 202

Armando Pierucci

For the Performance  (Note by A. Pierucci)

The passages of the Little Organ Book are not immediately comprehensible, nor are they captivatingly pleasant. They must be deepened in order to arrive, in consigning them to silence, to the persuasion of recollection.

The rhythm is to be linked to the performance of the chant performed, or to be performed. In the commentary on the songs of Communion, it is good to slightly broaden the rhythmic flow.

The dynamics as well are left to the good taste of the performer, bearing in mind the liturgical moment and the fact that the organ is there to help to people to pray.

All the pieces are manualiter, but nothing prevents you from reinforcing some cadence, or thematic passage, with the intervention of the pedal.