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.
La Cagna
Angelo Branduardi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
poi sulla neve tremando si stese.
e ad uno ad uno li ripuli
la cagna bianca i suoi
cuccioli d'oro.
Saliva il sole sul campo gelato
scaldando appena i suoa cuccioli ciechi
e quando l'uomo poi glieli prese
Scese la notte ed il ghiaccio richiuse
nell'acqua nera sette cuccioli d'oro,
sopra lo stagno la luna guardava
la cagna bianca che non capiva
The song "La Cagna" by Angelo Branduardi is a poignant ballad that tells the story of a white female dog (cagna) and her seven golden puppies. The lyrics depict the harsh realities of survival in a cold and unforgiving world. At dawn, the exhausted mother dog lay down on the snow and watched over her newborn pups, licking them clean one by one. As the sun rose above the frozen field, the mother dog tried to warm her blind puppies with her body heat. Soon after, the puppies were taken away by humans, much to the mother dog's dismay. Nightfall brought an abrupt end to this sad tale as the puppies were drowned in the unforgiving black water. The song ends with the white mother dog looking up at the moon in confusion and disbelief at what has happened.
The lyrics of "La Cagna" highlight the themes of loss, survival and the cruel reality of life. They evoke a sense of sadness as we witness the mother dog's devotion to her puppies and the pain she experiences as they are taken away from her. This song reinforces the idea that nature can be cruel, and the line between life and death is blurred. In the end, "La Cagna" is a haunting song that stays with the listener long after the music has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
Fu solo all'alba che si riposò
It was only at dawn that she rested.
poi sulla neve tremando si stese.
Then she lay down on the trembling snow.
e ad uno ad uno li ripuli
And one by one she cleaned them up.
la cagna bianca i suoi cuccioli d'oro.
The white bitch and her golden puppies.
Saliva il sole sul campo gelato
The sun was shining on the frozen field.
scaldando appena i suoi cuccioli ciechi
Barely warming her blind puppies.
e quando l'uomo poi glieli prese
And when the man took them away,
come per gioco i suoi passi segui.
She followed him as if for a game.
Scese la notte ed il ghiaccio richiuse
Night fell and the ice closed in.
nell'acqua nera sette cuccioli d'oro,
Seven golden puppies in the black water,
sopra lo stagno la luna guardava
Above the pond the moon was watching,
la cagna bianca che non capiva
The white bitch who did not understand.
Contributed by Lucas V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Antoine7955
Bellissima...poche parole, ma..."intense"! (e, "nel nostro mondo" di una "realtà spaventosa").
Oggi, 10 Maggio 2015, è la "Festa delle Mamme"...dedicata anche a "loro", che "Mamme" sono!!!
@RolyPolyDoll
Credo che non c’è un video più giusto per la questa canzone. Quelli tempi turbolenti... Quando la vita umana valeva poco, tanto più la vita di un’cane non valeva un acca. La canzone mi stringe il cuore per la cane, ma il video anche per il uomo. Grazie, Michelangelo.
@BrunoGrazianoG
Bellissimi i versi: Fu solo all'alba che si riposò poi sulla neve tremando si stese. e ad uno ad uno li ripuli la cagna bianca i suoi cuccioli d'oro. Saliva il sole sul campo gelato scaldando appena i suoi cuccioli ciechi e quando l'uomo poi glieli prese come per gioco i suoi passi seguì. Scese la notte ed il ghiaccio richiuse nell'acqua nera sette cuccioli d'oro, sopra lo stagno la luna guardava la cagna bianca che non capiva
@OcraNova
piango e non smetto più
@proferrando
Corto, per inciso, che si rifà a uno splendido romanzo di Bulgakov