Organ music by Giacomo Puccini

[andijah]

Did you know that young Giacomo Puccini composed for the organ?
A German publisher just published a selection of these short, enjoyable pieces that give us a glimpse of the great opera writer he became.

The pieces in this collection are mostly played on manuals only; the pedal part isn't too difficult, if Puccini indicated the use of the pedals.

Here's a pdf with some information: https://carusmedia.com/images-intern...0/1819000x.pdf and here's the link to the publication (in German): https://www.carus-verlag.com/komponi...rgelwerke.html

Since it's Puccini's 160th birthday and "my" small organ's 160th birthday this year, I will play one of his pieces in my "birthday recital" in November.

[fffaaa]

Since it's Puccini's 160th birthday and "my" small organ's 160th birthday this year, I will play one of his pieces in my "birthday recital" in November.

And you will share the recording with us, will yo not? :-)

[andijah]

Well... we haven't planned to record the concert - but if I can somehow find the budget for a recording, I'll think about it :-)

[Victor Jules]

Thanks for this information, andijah. I maintain that the more familiar names (of pieces, composers, genres) we can pack into program and bulletin info, the more common ground with an audience. What a nice surprise Puccini would be in this vein! Composers' major anniversaries are also a useful angle.
https://www.carus-verlag.com/en/comp...anniversaries/
We owe them this, especially we who were force-fed erudition in music schools.

Because of a beautiful Notturno, some concertgoers will recognize the name Martucci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwSUEns2fv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etl4QqVN2sc

[andijah]

I maintain that the more familiar names (of pieces, composers, genres) we can pack into program and bulletin info, the more common ground with an audience.

This reminds me of one elderly gentleman in our parish who keeps asking when I will play some Rossini again (and I know that he means Puccini). B-)

Speaking of which, I will play more Puccini in September as part of an "open day" for organ music - unless new restrictions forbid having an audience in church. We shall see.

[Victor Jules]

He has good taste :-] IMSLP is of course crammed with transcriptions -- even whole operas
https://imslp.org/wiki/La_boh%C3%A8m...ni%2C_Giacomo)

Good luck on your open day -- let us know how it goes! Yes, pretty shocking that they just shut down Christianity at their whim.

[andijah]

I'm not particularly interested in playing opera transcriptions, tbh. The original organ pieces by Puccini are worth being performed for their uniqueness. But since they've only recently been re-discovered and printed, I guess they're not on IMSLP yet.

[Victor Jules]

Interesting tho't. Wonder if Puccini has an estate that gets first grabs on anything newly discovered by him.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/26/o...ies-at-89.html

[andijah]

A few days ago I uploaded an (unedited) recording of one of Puccini's organ pieces to my Twitter account. You should be able to watch without being a member: https://twitter.com/andijah/status/1321363067742179330