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.
Tanti Anni Fa
Angelo Branduardi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
la mia donna si bagnava
poi sciogliendosi i capelli
una storia raccontava,
di un castello in fondo al lago
tanti anni fa,
tanti anni fa,
ed io ora te la canto
mentre il sole ci scaldava
io all'ombra di quei rami
al suo canto mi assopivo
Spesso questo ci accadeva
tanti anni fa,
tanti anni fa,
ed io ora te lo canto.
Era sera sai,
era sera ormai
e di colpo mi svegliai.
Era sera sai,
era sera ormai
e da solo mi trovai,
nel lago.
Forse per curiosità
lei scese dal lago
so che un giorno salirà
per me
Era sera sai,
era sera ormai
e di colpo mi svegliai.
Era sera sai,
era sera ormai
e da solo mi trovai,
Nelle acque di quel lago
la mia donna si bagnava
tanti anni fa,
tanti anni fa,
Tanti anni fa,
tanti anni fa.
The lyrics of Angelo Branduardi's song Tanti anni fa is a poetic story about a man's reminiscence of the past. He remembers a time when his lover used to bathe in the lake and tell him stories of a castle that once existed beneath the surface of the water. He would fall asleep to her singing and wake up in the evening, alone by the lake. He longs for her return, hoping that one day she will come back to him.
The lyrics are full of symbolism, representing the transience of life and love. The lake represents the passage of time and how everything changes, while the castle symbolizes the past that is buried deep within the waters. The man's lover represents the memory of the past that he cherishes and longs for, but can never fully recapture. The lyrics convey a sense of longing and melancholy, and the music is hauntingly beautiful, matching the emotional depth of the narrative.
Overall, the song Tanti anni fa is a melancholic and wistful reflection on love and the passage of time. It is a testament to the timeless quality of music, which can evoke emotions and memories from the past and still resonate with listeners today.
Line by Line Meaning
Nelle acque di quel lago
In the waters of that lake
la mia donna si bagnava
my lady was bathing
poi sciogliendosi i capelli
then letting her hair down
una storia raccontava,
she told a story,
di un castello in fondo al lago
of a castle at the bottom of the lake,
tanti anni fa,
many years ago,
tanti anni fa,
many years ago,
ed io ora te la canto
and now I sing it to you
fu un giorno a mezza estate
it was a day in mid-summer
mentre il sole ci scaldava
while the sun was heating us up
io all'ombra di quei rami
I, in the shadow of those branches,
al suo canto mi assopivo
was lulled to sleep by her singing,
Spesso questo ci accadeva
This often happened to us
tanti anni fa,
many years ago,
tanti anni fa,
many years ago,
ed io ora te lo canto.
and now I sing it to you.
Era sera sai,
It was evening, you know,
era sera ormai
evening had come
e di colpo mi svegliai.
and suddenly I woke up.
Era sera sai,
It was evening, you know,
era sera ormai
evening had come
e da solo mi trovai,
and I found myself alone,
nel lago.
in the lake.
Forse per curiosità
Maybe out of curiosity
lei scese dal lago
she got out of the lake,
so che un giorno salirà
I know that one day she will come back,
per me
for me.
Era sera sai,
It was evening, you know,
era sera ormai,
evening had come
e di colpo mi svegliai.
and suddenly I woke up.
Era sera sai,
It was evening, you know,
era sera ormai
evening had come
e da solo mi trovai,
and I found myself alone,
Nelle acque di quel lago
In the waters of that lake
la mia donna si bagnava
my lady was bathing
tanti anni fa,
many years ago,
tanti anni fa,
many years ago,
Tanti anni fa,
Many years ago,
tanti anni fa.
many years ago.
Contributed by Daniel Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
evelyne landes
C'est toujours un plaisir de l'écouter et, cette chanson a .......
..... 45 ans !
MOSTARDA il magnifico
angelo sei il numero uno al mondooooooooooooooooo!!
semplice e giniale come tutti i grandi
Jean Pierre Echinard
Merveilleux.