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.
Primavera
Angelo Branduardi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
che ti coprano le spalle,
che si avvolgano ai tuoi fianchi,
hai dormito un lungo inverno,
ora vesti la tua gioia.
Inginocchiati alla fonte
e purifica le labbra
dal sapore di quel sonno,
ora vivi la tua gioia.
Ora sei la nube che va,
sei l'erba, il fiore,
ruscello che oggi torna,
Se sei uomo o donna, chissà,
o la farfalla che oggi o domani fuggirà.
..e le tue mani sono dolci inganni.
I tuoi passi non han tempo,
stai vivendo senza età,
puoi danzare fino a sera,
puoi amare fino all'alba,
che la gioia sia con te.
..e le tue mani sono dolci inganni.
The song Primavera by Angelo Branduardi begins with an invitation to the listener to let down their hair, which has covered their shoulders and wound around their waist, and to greet the arrival of spring with joy. The verses then describe a process of purification, kneeling at a fountain to cleanse the lips of the taste of a long winter’s sleep. The listener is then urged to live fully in the present moment, to become like the cloud, the grass, the flower, and the stream that flows anew every day. The refrain repeats the idea that the listener’s hands are sweet deceptions, reminding us that sometimes appearances can be deceiving.
In the final stanza, the singer celebrates the timeless nature of the present moment, where there is no past or future, only the transitory beauty of the now. The listener is reminded to dance until evening and to love until dawn, and to let joy be with them always. The images of nature and the cyclical processes of the seasons lend a feeling of rebirth and renewal to the song, emphasizing the idea that a new beginning is always possible.
Line by Line Meaning
Ed ora sciogliti i capelli,
che ti coprano le spalle,
che si avvolgano ai tuoi fianchi,
hai dormito un lungo inverno,
ora vesti la tua gioia.
Now untie your hair,
which covers your shoulders,
let it wrap around your waist,
you have slept a long winter,
now dress in your joy.
Inginocchiati alla fonte
e purifica le labbra
dal sapore di quel sonno,
hai sognato un lungo inverno,
ora vivi la tua gioia.
Kneel at the source
and purify your lips
from the taste of that sleep,
you have dreamed a long winter,
now live in your joy.
Ora sei la nube che va,
sei l'erba, il fiore,
ruscello che oggi torna,
Se sei uomo o donna, chissà,
o la farfalla che oggi o domani fuggirà.
Now you are the cloud that goes,
you are the grass, the flower,
stream that returns today,
if you are a man or a woman, who knows,
or the butterfly that will fly away today or tomorrow.
..e le tue mani sono dolci inganni.
..and your hands are sweet deceptions.
I tuoi passi non han tempo,
stai vivendo senza età,
puoi danzare fino a sera,
puoi amare fino all'alba,
che la gioia sia con te.
Your steps have no time,
you are living without age,
you can dance until evening,
you can love until dawn,
may joy be with you.
..e le tue mani sono dolci inganni.
..and your hands are sweet deceptions.
Contributed by Andrew N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.