Canzona

Auguste Larriu (1840 - 1925) was a French organist and composer. He was born in Oloron and became organist of the church Saint-Croix d'Oloron in 1868. He stayed in the function till his death 57 years later. He wrote numerous compositions, mostly for organ. Though his music was quite frequently published and printed in his own days, most of it now lost, or scattered around various libraries. Some of his music is available on IMSLP: https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Larriu,_Auguste

This Canzona comes from a collection called "Nouvelles Pièces" (new pieces). As they were meant for harmonium as well as for the organ, the use of pedals is scarse, and doubles mostly the lowest note of the left hand part. In this Canzona the pedal gives the composition just the little extra punch it needs to sound really great. And it is a nice piece for me to practise the use of swell pedal. Being mostly a Baroque playing guy, music from the French Romantic era has a lot of performing difficulties for me.