Adagi per l'Elevatione no1 (Andante)

Vicenzo Petrali (1830-1889) was organist in the cathedral of Cremona, after that in the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, chapel master of the cathedral of Brescia and in the cathedral of Crema, and finally for a long time teacher at the Liceo Musicale of Pesaro.

Petrali lived in an organ universe still marked by the symphonic-theatrical organ creativity, based on the organ-orchestra, and the renewal both of the organ and organ music of which he was among the most tenacious and convinced supporters, together with the Cecilian Movement.

Even in a somewhat troubled and contradictory moment for Italian organ music, he tried to implement his ideal of reform of sacred music by respecting the tradition of Italian organ building, still linked to orchestral instrumentation, understanding that it had not yet matured to take revolutionary constructive changes as was already the case in many other European countries. At the same time, he never fully yielded to the use of operatic transcriptions of his time, and he wrote for organ in a rather severe style with conviction.