Per motivi di studio e conservazione: padre Albino Varotti, studioso e compositore in formazione continua

Abstract

This paper examines a specific aspect of the work of Albino Varotti (1925-2018), the Franciscan friar (OFM Conv.), composer, and conductor who also engaged in the field of musicology. Namely, it focuses on the materials from the Bologna collection at S. Francesco designated as being «for the purposes of study and preservation» that he employed for about fifty years. This designation reveals an original approach to musical practice, conceived as an interplay of composition, philological research, teaching, and a commitment to safeguarding musical heritage – particularly its lesser-known components. The transcriptions and studies carried out by Varotti – on predominantly, though not exclusively, sacred music that had often rarely been studied or remained anonymous – show that he approached preservation as a creative act capable of transforming memory into a tool for innovation. From this perspective, Varotti can be seen as both a custodian and mediator of tradition, offering a model in which the act of safeguarding the past becomes a resource for present and future scholarship.