Four Images on B.A.C.H. (2012)

Ennio Cominetti (b. 1975) — Four Images on B.A.C.H. (2012) for organ

“Four Images on B.A.C.H.” (2012) is dedicated to the memory of the French composer Jean Langlais (1907–1991). The musical material for the work is a four-note theme: the letters B-A-C-H (the last name of Johann Sebastian Bach) treated as a musical motive: B-flat, A, C, B-natural (“H” in German note naming). Starting with Bach himself, this theme has been used by a truly enormous number of composers over the centuries. In Cominetti’s piece, the four notes are used both as harmonies and as small melodic cells for the creation of sound pictures that integrate both familiar and unusual sounds. In the first movement, chords are built very slowly. More animated gestures appear and disappear. The second movement is very slow-moving (“lento e statico.”) The third movement begins with a chorale-like harmonization of the BACH theme. Out of this, fleeting gestures emerge. The final movement combines a brief, “whirling” presentation of the theme with recollections of the previous three movements.

Ennio Cominetti (b. 1957) is an Italian conductor, organist, and composer. His positions have included Professor of Organ at the conservatory in Trapani and director of the Department of Sacred Music of the Arts Academy of Rome. Cominetti has toured extensively as a performer throughout North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He was the founding conductor of the Orchestra Cameristica Lombarda, the Ensemble Vocale Soli Deo Gloria, and the Coro Accademico Lombardo. As a composer Cominetti has written numerous works in all genres and has edited publications of many works of Italian composers of past eras. He is also the author of several books, including a biography of Marco Enrico Bossi.

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