A beautiful movement in 12/8 time from the baroque Italian composer who studied with A. Scarlatti and B. Pasquini before working as a priest in South Show More...
A beautiful movement in 12/8 time from the baroque Italian composer who studied with A. Scarlatti and B. Pasquini before working as a priest in South America. A pastorale is an instrumental composition usually in moderate tempo which suggests and evokes the life of a shepherd. Usually in 6/8 9/8 or 12/8 time they often feature a drone accompaniment reminiscent of the bagpipes, an instrument very much associated with shepherds. The use of thirds is another common feature and they are often played at Christmas. There are many examples from the repertoire including those by Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel and more recently Pietro Yon. The movement is in three sections. The first and last sections are in 12/8 and are played at 63 dotted quarter notes or crotchet beats to the minute. These two sections are 21 bar and 25 bars in length and are in similar character although the closing section is chromatic. The second section is 11 bars long and in common time and is played at 100 quarter note beats to the minute. Ornamentation is in place for the 11 bar middle section. For pianists playing the organ there is only one pedal note to play. The arrangement is for a two manual instrument and there is clear indication in the sheet music score as to which music is played on which manual. The movement can however be played quite satisfactorily on a one manual instrument. On the sheet music score Manual 1 refers to the swell and Manual 2 refers to the great. Players may prefer to substitute these terms on their music scores. In the instruments of Zipoli’s time changing the registration or choice of stops was effectively the only technique available to the organist to change the sound and volume. Modern instruments with swell pedals enabling the swell box to be opened and closed and change the volume were a much later invention. Three different registrations are suggested for playing the movement although only two are used in the realisation. Domenico Ziploi (1688-1726) was an Italian Baroque composer who lived and worked as a Jesuit priest in South America. Born in Prato, near Florence he studied with Alessandro Scarlatti and Bernardo Pasquini and in Rome produced in 1716 a collection of keyboard pieces titled Sonate d’intavolatura per organo e cimbalo. This music is still highly regarded and playable by intermediate level. Close
A very attractive piece for organ or harpsichord just 56 bars in length but featuring strong musical shapes that explores the full range of the organ Show More...
A very attractive piece for organ or harpsichord just 56 bars in length but featuring strong musical shapes that explores the full range of the organ manual. A tempo in the range 84 – 96 quarter note beats to the minute is suggested with the realisation playing back at 84 quarter note beats to the minute. The movement can be played on a one manual instrument with an 8 foot stop suggested as an appropriate registration. Imitation, the use of sequence and repetition are compositional processes that feature with the full range of the keyboard being explored. The descending musical shapes and motifs need to be clearly articulated particularly at the beginning of phrases. There are 12 ornaments indicated in the score. The upper mordent note /note above/note is used on short notes while the trill is in place on notes a quarter note (crotchet) in length. As the movement progresses the texture becomes more complex and ornaments become less evident in the score. The video score which can be viewed on the YouTube channel has all the ornaments written out whilst the sheet music score has symbols in place. Ornamentation in music performance is a complex topic and additional ornaments could be added at important cadence points. The music editor argues the case for clarity and simplicity suggesting that ornaments are added when the movement can be played competently. Note that rests in silent voices are used rather inconsistently. The music editor has found recordings of this music where it has been attributed to A. Scarlatti. As music was hand copied and often shared between teachers and pupils this is a frequent occurrence in music from these early times. Domenico Zipoli (1688-1726) was an Italian Baroque composer who lived and worked as a Jesuit priest in South America. Born in Prato, near Florence he studied with Alessandro Scarlatti and Bernardo Pasquini and in Rome produced in 1716 a collection of keyboard pieces titled Sonate d’intavolatura per organo e cimbalo which includes this particular canzona. This music is still highly regarded and playable by an intermediate level player. Close