Spergher: Organ and Harpsichord Music Chiara Minali

• Ignazio Spergher (1734 - 1808): Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1:
• 1 Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 04:31
• 2 Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: II. Andante sostenuto 05:50
• 3 Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 04:05
• Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1:
• 4 Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 04:33
• 5 Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino espressivo 04:23
• 6 Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro brillante 03:13
• Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1:
• 7 Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 04:49
• 8 Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: II. Rondò andante 03:48
• 9 Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro vivace 03:16
• Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1:
• 10 Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 04:32
• 11 Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino 04:19
• 12 Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro spiritoso 03:38
• Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I
• 13 Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro con brio 04:10
• 14 Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Andante grazioso 04:45
• 15 Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro con brio 03:48
• Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1:
• 16 Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 05:09
• 17 Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: II. Rondò andante 03:48
• 18 Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 04:22
• Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6:
• 19 Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: I. Rondò - Allegretto 02:46
• 20 Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: II. Andantino 04:44
• 21 Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro svelto 02:32
• Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6:
• 22 Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro svelto 02:51
• 23 Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: II. Rondò - Andantino grazioso 05:44
• 24 Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: III. Presto 02:54
• Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6:
• 25 Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: I. Andante 03:20
• 26 Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: II. Amoroso 03:53
• 27 Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro con spirit 03:44
• Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6:
• 28 Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro aperto 04:19
• 29 Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: II. Rondò - Andante con brio 04:16
• 30 Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro vivace 03:36
• Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6:
• 31 Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro 04:12
• 32 Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: II. Andantino grazioso 04:43
• 33 Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro 03:21
• Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6:
• 34 Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro vivace 02:13
• 35 Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6: II. Andante con moto 02:28
• Ignazio Spergher:
• 36 Allegro in C Major 03:09
• Sonata in B-Flat Major:
• 37 Sonata in B-Flat Major: I. Andantino con brio 04:37
• 38 Sonata in B-Flat Major: II. Adagio 06:06
• 39 Sonata in B-Flat Major: III. Allegro 03:28
• Sinfonia in C Major:
• 40 Sinfonia in C Major: I. Allegro 03:18
• 41 Sinfonia in C Major: II. Andantino 03:50
• 42 Sinfonia in C Major: III. Allegro con brio 03:21
• 9 Sonatas for Organ:
• 43 9 Sonatas for Organ: I. Rondò-andantino mosso in C Major 02:05
• 44 9 Sonatas for Organ: II. Andantino con brio in C Major 02:17
• 45 9 Sonatas for Organ: III. Cantabile in B-Flat Major 04:23
• 46 9 Sonatas for Organ: IV. Rondò-grazioso in B-Flat Major 01:53
• 47 9 Sonatas for Organ: V. Allegro con brio in C Major 02:18
• 48 9 Sonatas for Organ: VI. Allegretto moderato in B-Flat Minor 03:34
• 49 9 Sonatas for Organ: VII. Allegro ma non tanto in F Major 02:29
• 50 9 Sonatas for Organ: VIII. Senza indicazione in D Major 02:26
• 51 9 Sonatas for Organ: IX. Andante grazioso in B-Flat Major 03:14
• 52 6 Sonatas for Organ: I. Allegro in B-Flat Major 01:51
• 53 6 Sonatas for Organ: II. Allegretto in F Major 02:31
• 54 6 Sonatas for Organ: III. Spiritoso in D Major 02:20
• 55 6 Sonatas for Organ: IV. Allegro in G Major 02:36
• 56 6 Sonatas for Organ: V. Rondò brillante in A Major 01:53
• 57 6 Sonatas for Organ: VI. Allegro vivace in C Major 02:14
• 58 3 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: I. Andante espressivo in E-Flat Major 03:09
• 59 3 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: II. Senza indicazione in C Major 03:34
• 60 3 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: III. Andantino sostenuto in C Major 03:24
• Ignazio Spergher:
• 61 Pastorale in A Major 07:04
• Total Runtime 03:41:39

Info for Spergher: Organ and Harpsichord Music

First recordings of sonatas for organ and harpsichord by a forgotten Italian composer on the cusp of the Baroque and Classical eras.

Ignazio – or Ignaz, in some sources – Spergher was born in 1734 in the northern Italian town of Treviso. There, by and large, though even before his death in 1804 his music had crossed national boundaries to delight audiences across Europe. As chapel master and then organist at the city’s cathedral in the late 1700s he produced an output of vocal and instrumental music, most of which was destroyed when the cathedral’s library was burnt down during air raids in 1944.

There remain, however, the six Op.1 Sonatas published in Venice in 1786 with which Chiara Minali begins her survey of Spergher’s surviving music, the most comprehensive yet. These are three-movement pieces written in the Venetian organ tradition of the 18th century. The manuscript of his Op.6 sonatas for harpsichord avoided the Chapter House holocaust by having been sent to Vienna in 1845, and then Minali completes the set with assorted sonatas from different sources, all of them attesting to Spergher’s lively invention.

Chiara Minali’s previous work for Brilliant Classics includes the complete organ sonatas of Benedetto Marcello: a 3CD set (BC95277) that was warmly welcomed in the Italian press for Minali’s lively sense of style, beautifully sprung rhythmic playing and lively choice of registration on a historically appropriate instrument.

On this recording she plays an organ made by Antonio Zanchi in the 18th century for the parish church of Paderno di Ponzano in the Veneto region which was Spergher’s home. The harpsichord sonatas were recorded on a modern copy of a 17th-century model in the Oratory of St Elizabeth in Verona.

Ignazio Spergher (1734-1808) spent his entire life in his native town Treviso, where he was a highly respected singer, keyboard player, teacher and composer, a pupil of the great theorist Giordano Riccati.

This 3CD set presents Spergher’s keyboard music, for both organ and harpsichord. The 6 organ sonatas Op. 1 are delightful works in classical/galante style, written in 3 movements fast-slow-fast. The fast movements contain contrasting episodes of “Tutti” and “Concertino”, whereas the slow movements abound in sweet cantilene melodies entrusted to the “vox humana” register.

The works for harpsichord are charming pieces used as “Hausmusik”, in the pleasing Venetian style of Galuppi and Luchesi. Played on the Bazzani-Aletti-Zanin organ of the Parish Church of Paderno (Treviso) built in 1903 by the Aletti brothers, embodying much of the earlier 1845 Bazzani organ. The harpsichord used is a copy of a Giusti instrument of 1681, made by Roberto Mattiazzio. The specifications of the instruments are included in the booklet.

Chiara Minali, organ, harpsichord

Chiara Minali
studied at the Dall’Abaco Conservatoire in Verona. In 2002 she graduated brilliantly in organ and organ composition under Alessio Corti. That same year she won first prize in the competition organized by the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona for newly graduated musicians. She then attended courses in harpsichord, obtaining a first-class diploma in 2005 under Sergio Vartolo. This was followed in 2010 by a Masters Degree in harpsichord at the Bonporti Conservatoire under A. Bugatti. She has also attended master classes in organ under Michael Radulescu and in harpsichord under Murray, Bellotti, Baumont, Astronio, Bonizzoni and Baroni. She played continuo in the early music course held at Brunico in 2005 at Villa Lagarina (Trento), and of the course of Baroque singing by Lia Serafini in the province of Verona in 2013-2014. With the Corelli Ensemble performed in Dortmund in 2006, in Berlin in 2009. In September 2009 she became third in the Terzo harpsichord competition, and the following year collaborated with the Compagnia Virtuosa vocal ensemble on a production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Pescara. She has also worked with the Monteverdi Conservatoire in Bolzano and the Dall’Abaco in Verona as harpsichord accompanist. From 1998 to 2007 she was titular organist at the church of San Giorgio in Braida (Verona), and from 2007 to 2013 at the Church of the Redentore in Verona. From 2005 to 2017 she taught organ at the Istituto Diocesano di Musica Sacra in the same city. Her career involves her in many concerts as a soloist and continuo player, collaborating with various instrumental and choral ensembles.

Booklet for Spergher: Organ and Harpsichord Music