The Rysum organ (East Friesland, Germany) is the oldest instrument in Northern Europe which still has most of its original pipes from 1457 and 1513. The instrument was restored to its 1513 condition by the organbuilders Ahrend and Brunzema in 1959. To reconstruct a “late medieval mass” was a challenge, as the historian Konrad Küster acknowledges. The role of the organ was above all to improvise, not to accompany the singers. The organist Lorenzo Ghielmi understood this well and did not “accompany” the singers of the Biscantores Ensemble, but dialogued with them. For this, he has chosen music taken from European tablatures of the middle of the 15^th and 16^th centuries, such as those of Krakow and Lublin (Poland), of the Fürstenberg Abbey in Xanten and of the Buxheimer Orgelbuch (Germany), some of which contain transcriptions for organ from Italy and even France, not included here.

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