Download Master Concerts program - Fundación Focus

The organ is an instrument that the church has embraced
since the 10th century, shaping its internal structure and
giving it its role in religious worship. Since the NSth century,
when worshipping God was diversified by the Lutheran
and Calvinist reformations and the Counter-Reformation
of the Council of Trent, it has taken on various roles. It
acquired a more important position in some churches
(Lutheran and Catholic), while it was relegated in others
(Calvinist); leading to the appearance of new musical
forms (choral, biblical verse, interludes, hymns, etc.),
being used solely to accompany singing or as a solo
instrument. This explosion of different formats did not
take long to cross borders, with the exchange of musical
scores, techniques and even musicians, composers and
performers, and profound musical connections becoming
established between different European peoples and
Christian religions. The organ therefore became a
channel for communication between people from
different religions.
Given all this history, this year we have invited three
great organists of the current European organ to
perform at the Master Concerts series in February.
They are Lorenzo Guielmi, organist of the Basilica of
San Sulpiciano in Milan (Italy); Matteo Imbruno,
organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam (Holland)
and Johannes Unger, organist of St. Marien in Lübeck
(Germany). All are indisputable Baroque maestros
in their respective countries, and resident organists in
emblematic locations with different faiths, such as Milan,
Amsterdam and Lübeck.
They will show that the organ and its music unifies the
language in which we praise and relate to God, even
though the theological and disciplinary differences
between the churches may have separated us and set us
against one another during centuries, forming a barrier
to our desired unity even today. But music knows no
boundaries and in the organ has found one of its most
fervent means of communication and unity.
Master Concerts
The Baroque Organ
A bridge between peoples
opposed by religion
Focus-Abengoa Foundation
February OMNR
Lorenzo Ghielmi
Matteo Imbruno
Lorenzo Ghielmi has spent years studying and playing the music of the
Renaissance and Baroque periods, touring Europe, America and Japan.
Matteo Imbruno, a native of Pietramontecorvino, Italy, studied organ in
Bologna (Liuwe Tamminga), Rotterdam (Bernard Winsemius) and Lübeck
(Martin Haselböck). He is resident organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam,
the same position that Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck held in the NTth century.
N M Tuesday
He is resident organist at the Basilica di San Simpliciano in Milan and has
made recordings for radio and CD (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Teldec,
Passacaille, Ars Musici, Winter & Winter).
He has published a book on Nicolaus Bruhns as well as studies on the art
of organ building in the NSth and NTth centuries, and the interpretation of
Bach’s work.
He teaches the organ, clavichord and music at the Istituto di Musica
Antica of the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan and since OMMS he has
been professor of organ studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
in Basel.
N T Tuesday
Mr. Imbruno is also the resident organist of the Museum Amsterdam
Hermitage. Active as a concert performer, he has played in the most
prestigious festivals and music centres of Europe, Japan, South America
and the United States.
Matteo Imbruno has had the regular privilege of performing duo recitals for
two organs with the late Gustav Leonhardt. He was visiting teacher at the
Buenos Aires Conservatory, University of Rosario, University of Mendoza
(Argentina), Montevideo Conservatory (Uruguay), Arizona State
University (Phoenix USA) and Brown University (Providence USA).
In OMMR he founded the “La Divina Armonia” ensemble.
Mr. Imbruno presents masterclasses around the world and is in demand
on international juries. He has recorded several CD’s on historical
organs in The Netherlands and Italy, and has made recordings for the
BBC radio London. Matteo Imbruno is the artistic director of the
International Organ Competition Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and of the
Fondazione Accademia di Musica Italiana per Organo (Pistoia).
G. Frescobaldi (NRUP-NSQP)
Toccata col contrabasso over pedale (manoscritto in Torino)
A. Ileborg Von Stendal
Sequitur praeambulum in C et postest variari in d f g a (NQQU)
dai Fiori musicali:
Canzon dopo l’epistola
Toccata per l’Elevazione
Gagliarda II e III
C. Paumann (NQNM-NQTP)
Mit ganczem Willen
He has been a member of the jury in various international competitions
(Toulouse, Chartres, Tokyo, Bruges, Nuernberg, St. Albans, etc.) and has
been invited to be a guest speaker and to give specialist courses by numerous
musical institutions, including the prestigious Haarlem Summer Academy.
A. de Cabezón (NRNM-NRSS)
Pavana italiana
F. Correa de Arauxo (NRUQ-NSRQ)
Tiento a modo de Canción
J. Cabanilles (NSQQ-NTNO)
Corrente italiana
B. Storace (NSMM-NSSQ)
Follia
J. S. Bach (NSUR-NTRM)
Concerto in re minore (da Vivaldi), BWV RVS
Allegro, Grave, Fuga - Largo e spiccato - Allegro
Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV VUV
Toccata Adagio e Fuga in Do maggiore, BWV RSQ
J. Pieterszoon Sweelinck (NRSO-NSON)
Variations on Est-ce mars
Johannes Unger
O Q Tuesday
Johannes Unger, born in NVTS in Schlema, East Germany, was marked
in his early life by his musical parents. He received a complete musical
training at the Special School for Music in Halle, which he then continued
at the Academy for Music and Theatre Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in
Leipzig. He studied organ with Ullrich Böhme, organist of St Thomas
Leipzig, and piano with Markus Tomas. He continued his studies in the
solo class of Hans Fagius at the Royal Conservatory of Music in
Copenhagen until OMMN. Furthermore he attended master classes
conducted by Emanuel Ax, Christian Zacharias, Robert Levin and
Ewald Kooiman.
Being the youngest participant, Johannes Unger won the First Prize in
the renowned International Organ Competitions in Odense, Denmark,
in NVVU. In the Bach year OMMM he won the NOth International Johann
Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, along with the audience prize
and numerous special prizes. In OMMN he won the First Prize in the ONst
International Organ Festival St. Albans interpretation competition.
He has performed in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain,
Australia, Hungary, France, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the
U.S.A. (represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists). He was
invited to perform at famous festivals (Leipzig, Eisenach, Frankfurt,
Chartres, Monaco, and Haarlem).
Johannes Unger is organist for the Thüringischer Akademischer Singkreis
and accepts invitations from other excellent ensembles. Among these
are the Dresdner Kammerchor, Dresdner Kreuzchor, Sächsisches
Vocalensemble, and the Leipziger Universitätschor.
From OMMP to OMMV, Johannes Unger has been assistant organist at
St Thomas church Leipzig. By July OMMV he is organist at St Mary’s
of Lübeck.
G. Böhm (NSSN-NTPP)
Vater unser im Himmelreich
N. Bruhns (NSSR-NSVS)
Praeludium in G
Johann Pachelbel (NSRP-NTMS)
Ciaccona in f
F. Tunder (NSNQ-NSST)
Praeludium in g
Fantasie „Christ lag in Todesbanden“
J. B. Bach (NSTS-NTQV)
Ciaccona in Si bem maggiore
D. Buxtehude (NSPT-NTMT)
Toccata in d, BuxWV NRR
„Vater unser im Himmelreich“, BuxWV ONV
„Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist“, BuxWV OMU
J. S. Bach (NSUR-NTRM)
Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV SRV
J. S. Bach (NSUR-NTRM)
Triosonate Nr. S G-Dur, BWV RPM
M. Marais (NSRS-NTOU)
Dalla Symphonies d’Alcione (Trascrizione Henk Verhoef)
Ouverture / Air des faunes et driades
Marche en rondeau / Bourée
Prélude / Marche et airs pour les matelots
Ritournelle / Chaconne pour les Tritons
Vivace - Lento - Allegro
Concerto a-Moll nach A. Vivaldi, BWV RVP
I (Allegro) – II Adagio – III Allegro
Toccata, Adagio und Fuge C-Dur, BWV RSQ