Concerto di Natale a lume di candela

Certainly! Here is the translation of the Italian text into English:

**Sunday, December 21st**, at **8 PM**, in the **Church of San Domenico in Mola di Bari**, the XVI edition of the **International Organ Festival of Santa Maria del Passo** concludes with the special **Candlelit Christmas Concert**: starring, in a play of light and shadow, with the church illuminated only by wax lanterns, two musicians with international careers: **Maurizio Maffezzoli on the organ** and **Andrea Angeloni on the trombone**, bagpipe, and zampogna. It will be a Christmas Concert designed as an immersive experience, where sound, light, and sacred space work together to create a different time for listening and contemplation, in the spirit of tradition and its endless ability to renew itself.

The program outlines a sonic journey through centuries, styles, and geographies, placing the great European organ tradition in dialogue with ancient repertoire, folk music, and Christmas carols. The concert opens with the Prelude and Fugue LV 123 by Johann Gottfried Walther, a piece of solid baroque architecture entrusted to the solo organ, where contrapuntal clarity and formal rigor combine with luminous writing, making it an ideal introduction to a meditative listening journey.

Following is the Canzon quinta “La Tromboncina” by Girolamo Frescobaldi, an eloquent example of how the instrumental language of the early seventeenth century can evoke vocal tones and gestures: here, the organ dialogues with the trombone, recalling the ancient link between organ practice and wind instruments in Italian chapels. Angelo Maria Costantini’s Pastorale, with a more intimately pastoral character, conveys a serene and contemplative atmosphere typical of the Christmas imagery from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The program then opens to folk tradition with two famous Irish melodies, "O Katy O'Neil" and "Danny Boy," performed in the meeting of the organ and bagpipe: a moment of strong timbral allure, where the archaic breath of the bagpipe intertwines with the harmonic support of the organ. Even older atmospheres emerge from the medieval chant "Propina de Melior," dating back to the 6th century, bringing the audience to an almost ritual dimension, suspended in time.

The central section of the concert includes "O Bambino mio divino" by Giuseppe Aldrovandini, a page of intense devotion, followed by "Tiento de medio registro de tiple de quarto tono" by François Chapelet, a piece recalling the Iberian tradition of the tiento, played on the contrast of registers and the chromatic richness of the organ. With "Laudate Dominum" by Claudio Monteverdi, for organ and trombone, the sacred language opens to more expressive and theatrical writing, where the dialogue between the instrumental voices amplifies the sense of praise and solemnity.

Frescobaldi returns with the Canzon settima “La superba,” a page of brilliant rhythmic vitality, followed by “Ricercare sopra un tenor italiano” by Diego Ortiz, a refined example of variation on a given bass, in which the trombone highlights its own cantability and agility. Closing the concert is a moment of communal sharing and recognition: traditional Christmas carols, performed with the organ and zampogna, returning music to its original role of community ritual, well-wishing, and celebration.

Admission is free, subject to availability. The International Organ Festival of Santa Maria del Passo is promoted by the cultural association «Arte & Musica» and supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Regional Council of Apulia, and the Municipality of Mola di Bari, in partnership with the Pasquale Battista Foundation and with the support of the main sponsor Levigas Luce e Gas. For information: 340.376.15.50.
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