“O Menschenkind”
for brass quintet and organ
from the organ Choral “O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sunde gross” by Johann Sebastian Bach,
Orgel Büchlein BWV 622
Work composed by invitation of the Festival “Un organo per Roma 2022”
Duration: 5:30
First performance:
Roma, 16th October 2022, “Un organo per Roma”, Sala accademica of the Conservatorio di Musica “Santa Cecilia”
Flavia Gianfreda organ, FEDS Brass Quintet, conductor Alberto Galletti
The choral prelude in E flat major for organ, “O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß”, BWV 622, one of the most extraordinary in Johann Sebastian Bach’s vast production, constitutes the material from which I drew to compose “O Menschenkind”, for brass quintet and organ.
Bach’s piece, which remains almost intact in the organ part, is interpolated by interventions by the quintet, or stratified by contrapuntal lines which, drawing on the immense Bachian plot, return, with the brass, the original Lutheran choral. From a timbral / harmonic point of view, the prolongation of sounds amplifies the resonance inherent in the instrument, creating diatonic clusters.