Italian Spiders (Un catalogo di ragni) (2023)

Carlotta Ferrari (b. 1975) — Italian Spiders (Un catalogo di ragni) (2023) for organ

0:00 | 1. Segestria
2:04 | 2. Ragno violino
3:42 | 3. Tegenaria
5:00 | 4. Malmignatta
7:44 | 5. Salticida
9:14 | 6. Zoropside
12:00 | 7. Ragno vespa
13:54 | 8. Tarantola

The composer writes: “Spiders are often scary and sometimes impressive, but really they are great friends of the countryside. They feed on harmful insects, and their presence ensures the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem. From the tiny jumping spiders and leaping spiders to the creepy black-mantled segestria; from the violin spider that does not weave a web to the fast tarantula; from the characteristic wasp spider to the shy malmignatta with the ladybug markings; from the shy zoropsidae (false wolf spiders) to the tegenaria that weaves enormous and messy webs, spiders make up a multifaceted and undoubtedly fascinating universe. Spiders are silent friends. Therefore, this music wants to give them a voice, entrusted to the instrument which—like them—is the most colorful and magnificent.”

Carlotta Ferrari (b. 1975) is an Italian composer. Educated at the Conservatory in Milan, she has composed in many genres, developing a personal language that is concerned with the blend of past and present. Her compositions have been performed frequently around the world. Ferrari’s music appears on several CD recordings, including eight all-Ferrari organ CDs: four recorded by Carson Cooman (2014/16/18), three by Peter Clark (2015/16/18), and one by Luca Massaglia (2021). She served as chair of music composition at Hebei Normal University in Shijiazhuang and professor of music composition at the European School of Economics in Florence, Italy.