Einaudi has composed the scores for a number of films and television productions, including This Is England, The Intouchables, I'm Still Here, the TV miniseries Doctor Zhivago, and Acquario (1996), for which he won the Grolla d'oro. His music was used as the score for the Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning films Nomadland and The Father.
He has also released a number of solo albums for piano and other instruments, notably I Giorni in 2001, Nightbook in 2009, and In a Time Lapse in 2013. On 1 March 2019, Einaudi announced a seven-part project named Seven Days Walking, which was released over the course of seven months in 2019.
In 2005, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
Einaudi was born in Turin, Piedmont. His father, Giulio Einaudi, was a publisher working with authors including Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, and founder of Giulio Einaudi Editore, while his paternal grandfather, Luigi Einaudi, was President of Italy between 1948 and 1955. His mother, Renata Aldrovandi, played the piano to him as a child. Her father, Waldo Aldrovandi, was a pianist, opera conductor, and composer who emigrated to Australia after World War II.
Einaudi started composing his own music as a teenager, first writing by playing a folk guitar. He began his musical training at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, obtaining a diploma in composition in 1982. That same year he took an orchestration class taught by Luciano Berio and was awarded a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music Festival. According to Einaudi, "[Luciano Berio] did some interesting work with African vocal music and did some arrangements of Beatles songs, and he taught me that there is a sort of dignity inside music. I learnt orchestration from him and a very open way of thinking about music." He also learned by collaborating with musicians such as Ballaké Sissoko from Mali and Djivan Gasparyan from Armenia. His music is ambient, meditative, and often introspective, drawing on minimalism and contemporary pop.
Ferma Zitella
Ludovico Einaudi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
quandu ca t'aggiu ncontrata,
mo sola sola.
e sola sola, e mo sola sola
quandu ca t'aggiu ncontrata,
mo sola sola.
pe la strada
ca su zitella e perdu la furtuna.
mo la fortuna, mo la fortuna
ca su zitella e perdu la furtuna.
Veni sta sera a la mia camerata
la mia mamma non c'è e mi corco sola
me curcu sola, me curcu sola la
mia mamma non c'è e mi corco sola.
E bonasera a lei porta nserrata
pacenzia Nennu e ca non su sola.
e ca nu su sola, e ca nu su sola.
pacenzia Nennu e ca non su sola.
Tutte le curpe io ca t'aggiu lassata
quandu t'aggiu ncontrata,
ma sola sola
mo sola sola, e mo sola sola
quandu ca t'aggiu ncontrata,
mo sola sola.
Ferma Zitella, a song by Ludovico Einaudi, tells the story of a woman who is alone, abandoned, and feels trapped like she is in jail, after losing everything she had. The lyrics begin with the woman imploring someone to stop and talk to her, as she is alone and caged like a prisoner. She is so alone, and all she has is her own company.
The woman admits that she is single and penniless, and she has lost everything she once had. She pleads to be left to go out and find her own way on the street. She is a young woman, and she has lost her fortune and is alone, but she hopes that she will find a way to make a new life for herself.
In the second verse, the woman invites someone to come to her chamber and stay with her for the night. Her mother is not around, and she finds herself alone to seek comfort wherever she can find it. She assures the person that she is not alone, and they do not need to worry. In the final verse, the woman confesses that she has left behind all her worries and troubles since meeting the other person, but she is still alone in her thoughts.
Overall, Ferma Zitella, a song by Ludovico Einaudi is about finding solace and comfort in the company of others when you feel like you have lost everything. The woman remains optimistic about the possibility of finding a new start despite feeling abandoned and having lost her fortune.
Line by Line Meaning
Ferma zitella ca si carcerata
Stop, young woman, as if imprisoned since I met you, now alone
quandu ca t'aggiu ncontrata, mo sola sola.
when I met you, I am now alone.
Lassame scire bellu, nennu, pe la strada
ca su zitella e perdu la furtuna.
Let me tell you, my dear, on the street that I am single and have lost fortune.
mo la fortuna, mo la fortuna
ca su zitella e perdu la furtuna.
now fortune, now fortune, because I am single and have lost fortune.
Veni sta sera a la mia camerata
la mia mamma non c'è e mi corco sola
Come tonight to my room; my mother isn't here, and I sleep alone.
me curcu sola, me curcu sola la
mia mamma non c'è e mi corco sola.
I sleep alone, so alone, while my mother is not here.
E bonasera a lei porta nserrata
pacenzia Nennu e ca non su sola.
Good evening, with a closed door; patience, my beloved, and know that I am not alone.
e ca nu su sola, e ca nu su sola.
pacenzia Nennu e ca non su sola.
And I am not alone, I tell you; be patient, my dear, and know that I am not alone.
Tutte le curpe io ca t'aggiu lassata
quandu t'aggiu ncontrata,
ma sola sola
All the troubles I had before I met you, but now, since I met you, I am alone.
mo sola sola, e mo sola sola
quandu ca t'aggiu ncontrata,
mo sola sola.
now alone, and now alone, since I met you, I am alone.
Writer(s): Ludovico Einaudi
Contributed by Annabelle P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.