CD “Organ” – Songs by J. S. Bach

The history of the Benedictine Olivetan Congregation since its inception includes important personalities from the world of art, culture and science. Among them were Vincenzo Reinieri (1606-1647), a friend and collaborator of Galileo Galilei, and Adriano Banchieri (1568-1634) a monk, man of letters, composer and organist, to whom the history of music, particularly that of the organ and organ music, is indebted.

It is well known that the great J. S. Bach (1685-1750), “The Father of Music,” enriched his knowledge through meticulous study of the work of Italian composers, including G. Frescobaldi; some works of A. Vivaldi, in fact, were the subject of his transcriptions. It would be difficult to imagine in this scenario J. S. Bach as alien to the influence of the didactic work of Adriano Banchieri who, with his compositions and treatises, became a significant figure in the music of his time. It was Banchieri who inaugurated the first organ at Monte Oliveto Maggiore in 1610.