Pietro Yon (1886-1943) played in what is widely regarded as one of the finest-ever performances of Beethoven's Missa solemnis, conducted at Carnegie Hall in 1935 by Arturo Toscanini. Yon was sharing the stage with the likes of Elizabeth Rethberg and Ezio Pinza; he had acquired a comparable celebrity within the organ world in his lifetime, having emigrated from Italy to the US at the age of 21, and become Organist of St Patrick's Cathedral in New York, the foremost seat of Catholicism in the US. A New York Times profile portrayed him as an adopted New Yorker who moved in high-society circles and enjoyed ragtime and vaudeville, and he welcomed the likes of Caruso and Toscanini to his home as friends. When he died in 1943, the world-famous conductor numbered among the 1300 mourners at St Patrick's. Yon's own music has a post-Romantic, mid-Atlantic flavour reflecting his background without belonging to a single 'school'. Christmas in Settimo Vittone or Rapsodia Italiana draw on his Piedmontese heritage. The trio of large-scale organ sonatas occupying the third album emerge from the virtuoso tradition of 19th-century keyboard writing exemplified by Liszt and translated to the organ by French contemporaries such as Guilmant and Vierne. Album 1 is dedicated to a collection of 12 Divertimenti including not only the Italian-themed character pieces mentioned above but also an expansive 'American Rhapsody' - like a transatlantic version of Howells, perhaps, sharing it's chromatic harmony with the music of Leo Sowerby - and shorter study-like pieces which exploit the full range of colours available on the organ of St Patrick's which he had extensively renovated and updated to reflect changing tastes, rather as Pierre Cochereau did at Notre-Dame in Paris.

Tracklist:

Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 1 Rimembranza, Melody for Oboe
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 2 Humoresque, L'organo Primitivo, Toccatina for Flute
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 3 Speranza (Hope), Solo for Diapason
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 4 Elan du Coeur, Petite poÃ¨me
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 5 Minuetto Antico e Musetta
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 6 Christmas in Settimo Vittone, Folk-Song, Carol for Vox Humana
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 7 Echo, Double canon in unison
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 8 Arpa Notturna, Harp Solo
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 9 Rapsodia Italiana (Italian Patriotic Hymns and Piedmontese Dances)
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 10 American Rhapsody
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 11 Trio all'Ottava
Twelve Divertimenti for Organ~No. 12 Cornamusa Siciliana
Concerto Gregoriano for Organ and Piano~I. Introduzione ed Allegro
Concerto Gregoriano for Organ and Piano~II. Adagio
Concerto Gregoriano for Organ and Piano~III. Scherzo
Concerto Gregoriano for Organ and Piano~IV. Finale
Canto Elegiaco - Elegy
Toccata
Concertina, Suite Umoresca: Lento, Allegretto - Tempo di Valzer lento - Allegro Vivace
Elegia
Concert Study (Three Compositions for Organ, No. 2)
Second Concert Study (Three Compositions for Organ, No. 3)
Sonata Cromatica Organ Sonata No. 2~I. Andante Rustico
Sonata Cromatica Organ Sonata No. 2~II. Adagio Triste
Sonata Cromatica Organ Sonata No. 2~III. Fantasia e Fuga
Sonata Prima Organ Sonata No. 1~I. Allegro con spirito impetuoso
Sonata Prima Organ Sonata No. 1~II. Adagio, ma non troppo
Sonata Prima Organ Sonata No. 1~III. Minuetto
Sonata Prima Organ Sonata No. 1~IV. Tema e Variazioni
Sonata Romantica Organ Sonata No. 3~I. Introduzione ed Allegro
Sonata Romantica Organ Sonata No. 3~II. Adagio
Sonata Romantica Organ Sonata No. 3~III. Finale

UPC: 5028421959122
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 1.22.21
Format: CD

Yon / Mazzoletti - Complete Organ Music 1 (CD)