I. Cor

II. Cerebrum

III. Pulmo - Lamento

IV. Auris (Autoritratto)

V. Ren

Pulmo is an organ concerto about human organs, consisting of five movements played attacca without pause. The first movement, Cor (heart), begins with heavy beats mimicking a heart pumping blood, a pulsating rhythm that gradually transforms into distinct forms of marching music—first a grotesque march, then a funeral march. The second movement, Cerebrum (brain), features rapid gestures and swift passages, as if electrical impulses are making connections between brain cells. The third movement, Pulmo (lungs), references the classic symbol of lungs connected with the massive apparatus of the organ; the music opens with expanding and diminishing chords as if the instrument is inhaling and exhaling alongside the orchestra, before this heavy breathing changes into coughing, hyperventilation, and large spectral chords that lead into an organ cadenza titled Lamento—an unrelenting stream of falling tears. The fourth movement, Auris (ear), carries a personal background with the subtitle Autoritratto (self-portrait): after a firecracker exploded beside my ear on a childhood New Year's Eve, I gained a lifelong partner in tinnitus, which is portrayed here by an orchestral explosion followed by a narrow-range cluster in the highest register, accompanied by a four-part chorale-like organ texture and brief, almost random appearances from other instrument groups like passing life events. The final movement, Ren (kidney), rushes forward like bodily fluids or blood cells surging through veins and organs; just as the kidney's vital function is to excrete toxins from the body, the music serves a parallel cleansing role, purifying its dissonant chords into a more consonant form. TR, 2023