6 Conciertos For 2 Organs

ESSL JOSEPH

After having held posts at Montserrat and Lérida, in 1752, Padre Antonio Soler entered the Spanish court in El Escorial, completed his vows in 1753 and became Kapellmeister and organist in 1757. Here he met, among others, the famous harpsichordist and composer Domenico Scarlatti who composed over five hundred and fifty harpsichord sonatas. Soler also added no less than one hundred and forty four to the sonata genre – usually in one movement. The relationship between the two is evident in Soler's style e.g., the re-emergence of musical elements, structures sub-divided with repetitions and the use of Spanish folk music. Form and content suggest that it is not music for a church with two oppositely placed organs, but rather for courtly entertainment performed in a hall at the El Escorial monastery. On the present recording, we have chosen two historical instruments which are immensely colorful and offer enough tonal possibilities to distinguish the two parts in any desired situation. In addition, both organs represent the sound aesthetic and richness in color of Spanish music of the mid-18th century. The presence of echo manuals and external Nave facades has also added a new dimension to performing echoes, responses and continuo playing. The splendor of the reeds allows the works to emerge out of the niche of their chamber music character. The two historical organs of the Catedral Metropolitana have reopened and revitalized the cosmos of the score. Yet grander and even more beautiful and powerful: this is the first impression of the two organs, and certainly of those who commissioned the instruments, displaying their tremendous wealth and overwhelming power. And yet the organ builder, Joseph Francisco Nassarre Cimorra succeeded in fitting the two instruments harmoniously within the choir; the sheer size of the room even makes them appear filigree.

Price: $35.98