Among all the musical instruments, organ is maybe the sounding machine that most was modified with new techniques: organ makers of every time and place have tried to add new sounds and devices that could give organ a more expressiveness in order to approach it to human voice on one side, on the other to the sound of different instruments, without lose that gravitas belongings since ever to “king of instruments”.
In the same direction goes the choice of bring close to organ sound, the voice of another instrument, the soprano sax: it is not a soloist instrument, as traditionally happens in duet conjunction, but it is a projection towards the outside of organ voice, a sort of extension “in jut” of the same instrument, as it happens with reeds en chamade.
All this explains the choice – a sort of Programmatic Manifesto of Riverberi Project – of not handle an existing repertoire, but of light sic et simpliciter on organ repertoire. The result allows entering in music folds and underlining details and weavings that one interpreter, as well with various keyboards and different soundings, could expound. This recording work has on one side original compositions for organ and on the other side compositions written on purpose for Riverberi duet. The programme is disposed on “a concert” order: the listener is introduced by merry blasts of trumpet tune of Floor Peeters, accompanying by magnificent harmonies of organ on a route that goes through 20th century without a strict chronological order, but in accordance with a precise listening iter in a contrast of colours and images.
Thanks to soprano sax, la Berceuse by Licinio Refice assumes an expressive grace; the luminous pages by Marco Enrico Bossi are not dissimilar to each other; the less played Corali op.79 by Marcel Dupré is a work of strict didactic value.
Pastoral by Mompou opposes a tender introduction that has a central moment of harmonic tenseness, a second movement of dance, where the reed’s sounding of organ and sax run after each other incessantly, stopping in a recall of the first movement.
In Respighi’s piece, instead, the Corale’s theme passes through the intense voice of the sax, creating in the third and last section three different sounding levels instead of two. The intimate poetry of music by Duruflé revives in Hommage à Jean Gallon: so Duruflé elaborates a song of twenty two beats. The most famous page of 20th century’s French repertoire is the Litanies by Jehan Alain: a kind of music by a young man, made of rhythm and energy.
In Slogedal’s piece organ and sax share out Corale’s verses, opposing different sounding to these variations: Song alternates sax and cornetto, Floyteljod (flute’s sound) stands out Flauto Traversiere of the first keyboard and Flauto Armonico in the second; in Langeleik (stringed musical instrument of Norway tradition) the sax counterpoints on high note the theme that Oboe’s reed does on bass. In Frydge song emerges the power of the organ. Written on purpose for the Reverberations duet are the compositions by Massimo Berzolla. Guido Donati, Pietro Tagliaferri: in the soloist piece About Kyrie XI, the Gregorian theme comes to lose in a series of variations characterized by an extremely rhythmic and dynamic variety. Ritratto has a central section all played on rhythmic fluency with an expressive introduction of the organ and the sax. Donati in Andante arioso and Pas de dix opposes an intense first movement to the characteristic rhythm of 10/8 of the second: here the incessant fluency of quavers is linked to soprano sax and to pedal keyboard of the organ. Lilien, written for four hands, opens with a light organ solo in a sounding and rhythmic crescendo that allows the soprano sax all the freedom to improvise till a sweeping tango.
The instrument of the Parish Church of Volpiano has an ancient resonance and an extraordinary richness of colours: the heaviness of the keyboards and the extension of the pedal keyboard balance themselves with the versatility and the sounding presence of the instruments.
According to us, Bernasconi’s organ, built in 1882, can be considered in a new perspective an ancient instrument with modern feelings. The sound of the soprano sax found in organ registers some companions with whom it talks, compares, clashes with, thinks and entertains.
In Peeters’ pieces emerges the sounding of Ripieno; in Refice’s, Respighi’s, Duruflé’s, Berzolla/Tagliaferri’s the weak and delicate sound of Voce Celeste; Cornetto II in Slodegal (I variation), Cornetto I in Berzolla, Clarinetto of the first keyboard in the first section of Donati’s piece, Oboe 16’ of the first keyboard in the first and third section of Berceuse.

Stefano Pellini
(Translation by Elena Pocorobba)