Concerto organistico di Andries Bogerd

**Sunday, January 11**, **at 7:30 PM**, in the **Church of San Domenico in Mola di Bari**, another valuable preview of the **International Organ Festival of Santa Maria del Passo 2026** will take place, with the artistic direction of **Margherita Sciddurlo**: performing will be the young Dutch musician **Andries Bogerd**, recent winner of the Duyschot Organ Competition in Amsterdam, as well as a musician and organist at the Maranathakerk church in The Hague.

The program presents a broad and coherent journey through the great European organ literature between the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, putting in dialogue the German Lutheran tradition, the concertizing Italian influence, and the brilliance of the French Christmas repertoire.

The concert opens with **Johann Sebastian Bach** (1685-1750) and the famous **Toccata and Fugue in D minor** BWV 565, an emblematic page of the Bach organ imagination, built upon a powerful contrast between improvisational drive and contrapuntal rigor. This is followed by a diptych of chorales from the “**Orgelbüchlein**”: “**The old year has passed**” BWV 614 and “**In You is joy**” BWV 615, miniatures of the highest expressive density, in which Bach translates the liturgical text into a refined symbolic play of melodic lines and figurations.

The French side is represented by **Claude Balbastre** (1724-1799), a key figure in Parisian musical life on the eve of the Revolution. The “**Noël II ‘Joseph is well married’**” belongs to the tradition of variations on popular Christmas songs: a brilliant, colorful music designed to surprise and engage the listener, in which the organ takes on an almost orchestral role.

With **Johann Gottfried Walther** (1684-1748), we enter the heart of the dialogue between Germany and Italy. The **Concerto of Mr. Vivaldi in B minor** is an organ transcription of a Vivaldian concerto, a testament to the deep admiration of German musicians for the Italian concertante language. Walther, a cousin of Bach, brings back clarity of form and the contrast between the movements typical of the solo concerto to the organ.

The program continues with two pieces by **Dietrich Buxtehude** (1637-1707), a key figure of the North German organ school. The **Chaconne in E minor** BuxWV 160 develops a stubborn theme in a sequence of variations of great expressive tension, while the chorale “**We give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ**” BuxWV 224 unites melodic simplicity and spiritual depth.

Less known but of great interest is **Johann Christoph Kellner** (1736-1803), a pupil of Bach, represented by the **Prelude in C major**: a bright and well-constructed piece that reflects the Bachian legacy in a clear, functional writing.

The concert concludes once again with Bach, in an ideal synthesis of spirituality and form. “**The sheep may safely graze**” BWV 208, a famous pastoral aria transcribed for organ, offers a moment of relaxed singability, while the **Fugue in G major 'a giga'** BWV 577 closes the evening with lively and dance-like writing, where counterpoint becomes movement and rhythm.

Admission is free, until seats are exhausted. The International Organ Festival of Santa Maria del Passo is promoted by the cultural association “Arte & Musica” and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Puglia Region, Regional Council of Puglia, 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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