The maestro of all maestros Conrad Paumann made himself famous not only as a virtuoso, composer and teacher; he was also an authority on building the organ. Blind since early childhood, he could not write down his compositions, and we know only part of his oeuvre, noted down by other artists. The output of this outstanding 15th-century composer – called the father of German keyboard music – is nowadays disseminated by the masterful performances of Tasto Solo.
The group founded by Spain’s Guilermo Pérez charms audiences with the virtuosic and refined repertoire of the 15th century – the time when various keyboard instruments evolved rapidly (organ, organetto, clavisimbalum, clavicytheria). Discovering the late medieval works of music requires from Pérez and his collaborators musical investigations, insightful research into the built of Gothic instruments, but also experiments. ‘Improvisation was a key element in the aesthetic of instrumental schools from the end of the 14th century, and the training of musicians took in great chapters of this. Learning to play an instrument involved learning to improvise, just as learning to read tablature involved being able to criticise, comment, modify, or embellish the piece in question with the same authority as the actual composer’ says Pérez.
Tasto Solo earned an international reputation thanks to performing the repertoire of Paumann’s music and works written by his contemporaries. The compositions have survived in the manuscripts: Lochamer Liederbuch and Buxheimer Orgelbuch. The former owes its name to a note on one of the pages: This songbook belongs to Wilfein of the Lochams, and the latter – with works for organ – until the 19th c. was stored in a monastery in Buxheim in Swabia, Germany. During Wratislavia Cantans Tasto Solo will perform on the clavisimbalum, organ, Gothic harp, and above all on the organetto which resembles a miniature organ. So small you can hang it on a strap and carry it playing e.g. during a procession. Unlike the organ, the organetto cannot play chords, only a single key can produce a sound at a time –hence the ensemble’s name Tasto Solo.