Glosa

When trumpeter Henry Moderlak came across a magnificent volume of sheet music entitled L’orgue baroque espagnol, which contained Spanish organ works from the 17th century, he made an interesting discovery: many of the motifs in the musical text reminded him of the trumpet literature of the time. Titles such as Piezas de Clarines referred to the special clarino stop of Spanish organs, which was used in instruments on the Iberian Peninsula in the 17th century: With horizontally arranged pipes, the so-called Spanish trumpets protruded from the organ case into the room and imitated the natural trumpet in shape and sound. What was striking, however, was that the passages in question used the ambitus and range of real natural trumpets – and could therefore actually be transferred to the trumpet: The idea for the «Proyecto Clarin» was born.

When the marvelous artists such as composer Stavros Xarchakos, lyricist Nikos Gkatos and the one and only Giorgos Ntalaras join forces, the result can only be a masterpiece.

Under the expert fingers of Jean-Charles Ablitzer, the Iberian organ of Grandvillars, confirms its extraordinary expressive, spatial and sonorous qualities. The thought of the interpreter resuscitates the whole imagination of the organist composers in Spain: the colors shine; fluid and precise, the game emphasizes this aesthetic contrasts very sharp, biting, conducive to the event of the orchestral organ, able to move as to seize by the force of its spatialized spectrum.

During the mid-16th century in Spain, it became increasingly common for collections of music to include tablature that would enable performers of other polyphonic instruments to perform the repertoire. With the recent addition of chromatic strings, the harp was one such mechanism to benefit from this, and its presentation in this beautifully performed compilation of works offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich world of Iberian Renaissance music making.