SKU: UT.HS-284
ISBN 9790215326460. 9 x 12 inches.
Melodia for Solo Harp/ Alleluja Modo II - Wachet auf for Harp and OrganThis publication gathers together in these three pieces the only compositions by Santucci devoted to the harp, both as a solo instrument and in dialogue with the organ, his favourite instrument.The little Melodia per arpa, a simple piece having an apparently didactic purpose, does not show the date of composition but, judging by the handwriting of the manuscript, it probably dates back to the period between 1980 and 1990. No other information has reached us as to why the piece was composed.The two pieces Alleluja Modo II and Wachet auf, both dated 20 March 1993, composed for the unusual duo of harp and organ, are dedicated to Anna Maria Restani, first harp in the orchestra of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna from 1965 to 2002, and to her son Wladimir Matesic, organist and now teacher at the Conservatoire in Trieste. Gregorian chant is the protagonist of the first piece, evoking a Gothic and rarefied atmosphere. The second is instead a blatant tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach (right from the first bars the reference to Prelude no. 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier is clear), through one of his most famous chorales (Wachet auf, ruft uns die stimme), also used by Santucci for numerous other compositions, including Il corteo dei Magi [for trumpet, organ, orchestra and choir, 1986, ms.], still performed in the Christmas concerts in Bologna. (Giuseppe Monari).
SKU: UT.CH-321
ISBN 9790215326293. 9 x 12 inches.
Dediche is a series of short miniature pieces for solo guitar written in 1991 by Chiara Benati, an authoritative exponent of what can be called the School of Bologna, and who has devoted many pages of her catalogue to the guitar (Chiara won a first prize in 1986 at the Competition for Guitar Composition organized by the historic magazine Il Fronimo).From the point of view of the guitar idiom, it is striking how the compositional research of Chiara Benati (who does not play the guitar) has penetrated deeply into the nature of the instrument. In my job of adding the fingering to the pieces, I started from the precise indications concerning the strings already provided by the Composer, who meticulously imagined the instrumental result created by the play of resonances and the consequent precise distribution of the parts on different strings (let us think of the tremolos superimposed on different strings in the second Dedica and the counterpoint in three parts each written on its own musical stave), with a skilful use of glissandos and other instrumental effects.From the musical point of view, a similar meticulousness in writing is evident, shown, for example, by indicating the temporal separation between the figures by means of their spatial distance indicated in the score.The result is an instrumentally and musically rigorous writing which also helps the performer by appealing to his ability to empathize, following the indications written in the score and in the key, with the expressive atmosphere of the work, and through that specific aspect of controlled performance flexibility and sound sensitivity necessary to render it properly.These delicate miniatures, suffused with mystery and melancholy, and so masterfully written for the guitar, are in my opinion an important addition to the contemporary repertoire of the instrument. (Piero Bonaguri).
