Angelo Branduardi (born February 12, 1950), is an Italian folk singer and c… Read Full Bio ↴Angelo Branduardi (born February 12, 1950), is an Italian folk singer and composer who scored relevant success in Italy and European countries such as France and Germany.

Branduardi was born in Cuggiono, a small town in the province of Milan, but early moved with the family to Genoa. He was educated as a classical violinist in the local school of music. At the age of 18 he composed the music for the Confessioni di un malandrino (Hooligan's Confession) by Sergei Yesenin, still one of his finest songs.

He is married to Luisa Zappa, who wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. Luisa and Angelo have two daughters, Sarah and Maddalena, both musicians.

Angelo's first album was never released, and resulted from a co-operation with Maurizio Fabrizio, composer and gifted performer. The first released album, Angelo Branduardi '74 was arranged with Paul Buckmaster.

La Luna ("The Moon"), including "Hooligan's Confessions" and the fine, delicate song giving the LP its name, is a prelude to the success of the following works. Alla Fiera dell'Est (English edition: Highdown Fair, 1976) was Angelo's first vastly popular album, followed by La Pulce d'Acqua ("The Water Flea", 1978) and Cogli la Prima Mela (English edition, Life is the Only Teacher, 1979). In those albums Branduardi exploits themes and patterns from ancient music, mostly Renaissance and early Baroque. The very song Alla Fiera dell'Est ("At the Eastern Fair") is still popular among Italians of every age, who test themselves to send in memory all the fable-like, repetition-based lyrics.

Lyrics have a broad spectrum of inspiration: a Danse macabre, the theme of Satan's mistress, Chinese, Native American and Druidic tradition, the apocryphal Gospels. Concertation owes much to the talents of Maurizio Fabrizio, and exploits unusual instruments for pop music: dulcimer, Pan flute, lute, clarinet, among others - mixed with more standard guitar-bass-and-drums.

Subsequent albums are mark by an increasing desire towards experimentation and differentiation. Branduardi (1981) has a more intimate tone, Cercando l'oro ("Searching for Gold", 1983), has very sophisticated and delicate arrangements (starts with a String Quartet), Branduardi canta Yeats (1985) is a tribute to William Butler Yeats. Pane e rose ("Bread and Roses", 1988) is a still inspired, but increasingly dark picture of life and death. Though similar in style to the early ones, 1980s Branduardi's songs seemed to have lost the strong, rythmical energy that backed masterpieces like "Ballo in Fa Diesis Minore" or "Cogli la prima mela". Il Ladro (1991) marks a very delicate point of Branduardi's life, edging on depression, echoed in a dark, almost cemeterial, style of singing.

The album Si puó fare 1993 brings back Branduardi to normality, but the artist is now struggling to evade the minstrel character which is now too strict for him. In 1994 he publishes Domenica e Lunedì ("Sunday and Monday"), dedicated to Franco Fortini.

In 1996, during the celebrations for the restoration of the Duomo of Spilimbergo after the catastrophic 1976 earthquake, he records the extraordinary album Futuro Antico, in which he poses as an early Baroque musician, reusing, mixing, wording pre-existing material along with his own. This experience, together with musicians and musicologists, will continue with Futuro Antico II and Futuro Antico III.

In 1998 Branduardi teams with Italian stand-up comedian and writer Giorgio Faletti for Il Dito e la Luna ("The Finger and the Moon").

He reworks earlier musical themes with writings of and about St. Francis to produce L'Infinitamente Piccolo; he writes a musical on the same topic (Francesco).

In 2003 a new album, Altro ed Altrove ("Other and Elsewhere"), in a time period marked by a rise of racism and intolerance, brings together (mainly) love stories from several cultures.

Discography

* 1974 Angelo Branduardi
* 1975 la luna(France: Confession d'un malandrin, 1981)
* 1976 Alla fiera dell'est (France: A la foire de l'est - UK: Highdown Fair, 1978)
* 1977 La pulce d'acqua (UK: Fables and fantasies, 1980)
* 1979 Cogli la prima mela (France: Le demoiselle)
* 1980 Gulliver,la luna e altri disegni
* 1980 Concerto
* 1981 Branduardi '81
* 1983 Cercando l'oro (France: Tout l'or du monde)
* 1983 State buoni se potete (Soundtrack for the movie with the same name)
* 1986 Branduardi canta Yeats
* 1988 Pane e rose (France: Du pain et des roses)
* 1990 Il ladro
* 1992 Musiche da film
* 1992 Si può fare France: Ça se fait)
* 1994 Domenica e lunedì (France: La menace, 1995)
* 1996 Camminando camminando (Live collection)
* 1996 Futuro antico I
* 1998 Il dito e la luna (Lyrics by Giorgio Faletti)
* 1998 Studio Collection (Collection)
* 1999 Futuro antico II
* 2000 L'infinitamente piccolo
* 2002 Futuro antico III
* 2003 Altro ed altrove
* 2005 The Platinum collection (Collection)

==LINKS==
*http://www.angelobranduardi.it/
*[http://www.branduardi.info Branduardi.info
*[http://guide.supereva.com/angelo_branduardi/ Guida di Angelo Branduardi
*[http://www.angelo-branduardi.com ABcom - Il sito internazionale di Angelo Branduardi
*[http://www.europamici.com EuropAMICI di Angelo Branduardi
*[http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/branduardi-ans/ Branduardi-ans -Mailing List Ufficiale- Gruppo di discussione su Angelo Branduardi e la sua musica.

Il bambino dei topi
Angelo Branduardi Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Parliamo ancora di lui
sottovoce quando viene sera,
seduti vicini, con un po' di paura.
Di quando ci rincorreva
ridendo in quel modo strano
e poi si nascondeva
a spiarci da lontano.
Viveva là sulla collina.

Passava le sue giornate
a guardare i passeri volare,
giocava con i topi, ma con noi non parlava.
Noi lo tormentavamo
cercando di farlo piangere
ma lui non ci badava e se ne andava.
Suo padre non lo amava,
ogni giorno lo picchiava:
non poteva sopportare quei suoi occhi strani.
Sua madre lo consolava,
lui se ne andava sotto la pioggia
a piedi nudi, camminava adagio.
Sono così lontane
le cose accadute allora
ma qualche volta di lui noi parliamo ancora.
Nelle sere d'estate

quando qui ci si annoia,
seduti vicini lasciando che il tempo passi.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Angelo Branduardi's song "Il bambino dei topi" tell the story of a boy who lived on a hill and spent his days watching birds and playing with mice. Although he played with the other children in the area, he never spoke to them. The boy's strange behavior was likely related to the fact that he was abused by his father, who couldn't stand his son's unusual appearance. While the boy's mother comforted him, he often walked in the rain alone, slowly making his way through the world.

The song depicts the other children remembering this boy, who they tormented in their youth. They reflect with a sense of regret and sadness upon the way they treated him. The lyrics capture a sense of nostalgia for a time that has passed, and a longing to revisit the emotions and experiences of childhood. The song is a poignant reminder of the pain that can be inflicted upon those who are seen as different, and an invitation to greater sensitivity towards those who are struggling.

Line by Line Meaning

Parliamo ancora di lui
We still talk about him

sottovoce quando viene sera,
in hushed tones when evening comes,

seduti vicini, con un po' di paura.
sitting close together, with a bit of fear.

Di quando ci rincorreva
When he used to chase us

ridendo in quel modo strano
Laughing in that strange way

e poi si nascondeva
And then he would hide

a spiarci da lontano.
To spy on us from afar.

Viveva là sulla collina.
He lived up on the hill.

Passava le sue giornate
He spent his days

a guardare i passeri volare,
Watching the birds fly,

giocava con i topi, ma con noi non parlava.
Playing with the mice, but not talking to us.