for flute, viola, and guitar; (una poesia musicale per la mamma di Nicolò)
Duration: 10 minutes
I wish to thank Christopher Theofanidis for welcoming into his soundworld the love for Leopardi’s poetry that my mom (to whom this work is dedicated) and I share.
Giacomo was a special poet in countless ways, but he is often celebrated as the poet of the moon and the stars, for the many starry nights he was able to paint with his words. Christopher captured the magic of Giacomo’s starry nights, as well as the turmoil that often comes with being an immigrant, far from home and from the people you love the most. A turmoil that wakes you up at night, and that can find moments of peace in a quiet dialogue with the stars above us.
Our music and our hearts are with refugees in every part of the world. We are always for peace and non-violence, for dialogue and brotherhood. Always.
—Nicolò Spera
Vaghe Stelle dell’Orsa is the first verse of Le ricordanze/The Recollections, by Giacomo Leopardi:
Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa, io non credea
Tornare ancor per uso a contemplarvi
Sul paterno giardino scintillanti,
E ragionar con voi dalle finestre
Di questo albergo ove abitai fanciullo. [...]
“Shimmering stars of the Bear, I never thought
That I’d be back again to see you shine
Over my father’s garden,
And talk with you from the windows
Of this house I lived in as a child.” [...]
Biography