Correa de Arauxo: Tientos Patrick Bismuth & Louis Thiry

• Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584-1654)
• 1Tientos de medio registro de tiple de quarto tono I04:28
• 2Tientos de medio registro de baxon de noveno tono06:04
• 3Tientos de medio registro de tiple de dozeno tono04:46
• 4Tientos de medio registro de dos tiples de segundo tono05:11
• 5Discurso de medio registro de dos baxones de quarto tono05:48
• 6Tientos de medio registro de tiple de segundo tono09:26
• 7Tientos de medio registro de dos tiples de septimo tono04:56
• 8Tientos de medio registro de baxon de duodecimo tono04:11
• 9Tientos de medio registro de baxon de dezimo tono04:04
• 10Tientos de medio registro de tiple de quarto tono II04:22
• Total Runtime53:16

Info for Correa de Arauxo: Tientos

Francisco Correa de Arauxo, who deserves to be better known, was probably of Portuguese origin but became one of the greatest Spanish organists of the famous Golden Age [el siglo de oro] of the 17th century.

In the musical transition between Renaissance and Baroque, Tientos were the most commonly employed genre of Spanish musicians of the time and these were written particularly for the Iberian organ which has a unique keyboard, divided at middle C in two equal registers.

The pieces heard here (actually nine tientos and one discurso) are among 69 such works of Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1583/84-1654) that were published in 1626, his only surviving works. One of the greatest Spanish organists of his era, he played in Seville, Jaén, and Segovia (the cathedrals of the last two cities) in a lifelong career that began at the age of eight. The transcription of these works for organist and violinist is the work of these two artists, who regard the addition of another instrument as refreshing. Recordings currently available indicate that other arrangements are also offered. The current Bielefelder Katalog Klassik lists 13 tientos currently available, not all of them played on the organ.

„The published volume is more than a collection of organ works. The extensive preface makes it a treatise on organ playing, the composer urging the reading of the preface before attempting to play the music. The term “tiento” was given to a commonly employed genre that can be compared with the ricercar and the toccata. It presumably comes from “tentar,” to try. At least that’s what it says here, all news to me. In fact, there are two notes, the second one by the organist not coordinated with the first. Since these pieces are a small fraction of the total, a few more selections would have made a more generous disc. The organ, located in a parish church in Mont-Saint-Aignan in France (two different names are given for the church), has been restored in 17th-century style and sounds impressive. It is worth comparing with the newer organ at Arizona State University reviewed under Collections, for there are certain similarities. They are obscured by the recessive place this organ has with respect to the violin solos here. I can’t find any full discs devoted to Correa, so this may be the fullest sampling of these pieces to be found. Nicely captured and worth hearing.“ (J. F. Weber, Fanfare)

Louis Thiry, organ
Patrick Bismuth, violin, viola & viola da spalla

No biography found.

Booklet for Correa de Arauxo: Tientos