MARCO D’AVOLA CONCERTO FOR ORGAN AND ORCHESTRA No. 1 in C. minor “AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM” (1990) Dedicated to Arturo Sacchetti

Our age is certainly not one which favours the search for sentiment and expression, if these are considered the free creative choice of an artist who refuses to be inf luenced by trends and the easy road to success. After years of wild, almost ‘drunken’ compositions and over-easy enthu-siasm, it comes as a great surprise that new works are born, the fruit of firm beliefs, sure of the valile of their own existence.

Marco D’Avola stands out, a singular figure, against the uncertain panorama of Italian music, where promising young composers are experiencing a period of weariness and a lack of personal-ity. His voice comes from the island of Sicily; it is a full, throbbing voice with flashes of artistic brilli-ance, untouched by ‘fashionable’ art.

His creative ability, deeply involved in the linguistic problems of our age, but full of inventive-ness modelled on the past, is the expression of a force musically unconditioned, without any false modesty, entirely freee to be itself.

For the composer, the work is an act of faith in the unique moment of pure creation, a perfect opportunity to express his own personality.

In the “Concert for Organ and Orchestra” can be see ali the influences of the 19th and 20th century examples of this rare form. This is not the righttime or place to investigate the reasons for the varying interest composers have shown in this musical form. There is no duoubt that the organ and the orchestra are both tremendous forces for expression, and that to put them side by side creates complex problems”of composition. Marco D’Avola has not given way to the temptation to give the organ the dominant role in the work; he has placed the “king of instruments” in front of the orchestra and has distributed the roles equally. The only exception to this is the heady cadence, full of virtuosity, which is not just decoration, but carefully built info the fourth movement.

In this work, Marco D’Avola, a refined, cultured young composer, shows us clearly his belief in giving free rein to his musical imagination and to the Joy to be found in expressing himself. His voice is that of a passionate singer, a representative of that school of artists that the fertile land of Sicily has produced, and testimony to its classical heritage.

Arturo Sacchetti

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