Očić, Ljerka | Arnold, Stanko: Pastorella

The idea of this recording was to capture the Croatian tradition of organ music through charming two-part one-movement sonatas by unknown authors, who had worked in Croatia in the 18th century, and whose (let's paraphrase Frescobaldi:) "fiori musicali" from the hills of Zagorje were found in two organ music books in the archives of the Franciscan monastery in Klanjec.

The first book contains compositions from an earlier period, whereas the other one was written around 1770 by the scribe Kalisto Weibl, a Franciscan who worked as an organist and teacher in Klanjec, and, later on, in Samobor, who died in Novo Mesto in 1801.

And although these sonatas resemble the ones by B. Galuppi and Padre Martini, Italian authors of the same period, their distinctiveness is definitely granted by the musical motifs, which bear witness of the influence of the local folklore and melodic elements.

I wanted to present these compositions on various famous old organs from the district of Zagorje, which would point out the grace of this music by their beautifully rich and diverse colours of sounds and registers.

But, as there was continuous repeating of the same musical form, I decided to write also arrangements for some sonatas for trumpet and organ, in order to give for the recording more dynamics.

Certainly, one of the trumpeters who can take up such a challenge to his own virtuosity, is definitely my long-time collaborator Stanko Arnold, whom I would like to thank for including these sonatas in his concert repertoire.

Ljerka Očić