Deep anguish of a life without faith, op. 15 (2020)

Luca Massaglia (b. 1975) — Deep anguish of a life without faith, op. 15 (2020) for organ

The composer writes: “This piece is intended to depict the extremely disturbed, terrifying mental condition of a person who needs to believe in God but can't, and feels, with paralyzing and frightening dismay, the meaningless of life, the unbearable almost certain thought that death will take away our dear ones from us forever.”

Italian organist Luca Massaglia (b. 1975) was born in Turin and was educated there at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. Since 2001 he has been organist at the Madonna degli Angeli Sanctuary. In 2010, Massaglia was artistic director of the Note per la Sindone (Notes for the Holy Shroud) organ festival in Turin. As a concert organist, Massaglia has toured very extensively internationally. From 2009–12 he was also a member of a saxophone and organ duo (Duo Ricercare) which likewise toured internationally and also recorded a CD for Elegia Records. He is currently also a collaborative artist with many musicians including violinist Marco Casazza, organist Paolo Maria Guardini, and mezzo-soprano Margit Lykke Christensen, among others. In 2017, he formed the Russian-Italian Organ Duo with his wife, Elena Kalashnikova.