During his long career, Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979—an average of three scores each year over a 46-year period, and in his most productive period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s he wrote as many as ten scores every year, and sometimes more, with a remarkable thirteen film scores to his credit in 1954. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. He also composed the music for many theatre productions by Visconti, Zeffirelli and Eduardo De Filippo as well as maintaining a long teaching career at the Liceo Musicale in Bari, Italy, where he was the director for almost 30 years.
Rota was born Giovanni Rota Rinaldi on 3 December 1911, into a musical family in Milan. Rota was a renowned child prodigy—his first oratorio, L'infanzia di San Giovanni Battista, was written at age 11 and performed in Milan and Paris as early as 1923; his three-act lyrical comedy after Hans Christian Andersen, Il Principe Porcaro, was composed when he was just 13 and published in 1926. He studied at the Milan conservatory there under Giacomo Orefice and then undertook serious study of composition under Ildebrando Pizzetti and Alfredo Casella at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, graduating in 1930.
Encouraged by Arturo Toscanini, Rota moved to the United States where he lived from 1930 to 1932. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, where he was taught conducting by Fritz Reiner and had Rosario Scalero as an instructor in composition. Returning to Milan, he wrote a thesis on the Renaissance composer Gioseffo Zarlino. Rota earned a degree in literature from the University of Milan, graduating in 1937, and began a teaching career that led to the directorship of the Liceo Musicale in Bari, a title he held from 1950 until 1978.
Rota had one daughter, Nina Rota, from a relationship with pianist Magda Longari. He died, age 67, from a coronary thrombosis in Rome.
Canzone Appassionata
Nino Rota Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Criscènnolo cu pena e cu sudore.
Na ventecata giá mme ll'ha spezzato,
E tutte ′e ffronne cágnano culore...
Cadute so' giá 'e frutte. E tuttuquante
Erano doce, e se so′ fatte amare.
Ma ′o core dice: "Oje giuvinotto amante,
'E ccose amare, tiénele cchiù care".
E, amara comme si′,
Te voglio bene.
Te voglio bene,
E tu mme faje murí!
Era comme 'o canario ′nnammurato,
Stu core che cantaje matina e sera...
"Scétate!" – io dico – E nun vo' sta′ scetato...
E mo, nun canta manco a primmavera!...
Chi voglio bene nun mme fa felice:
Forse sta 'ncielo destinato e scritto.
Ma i' penzo ca nu ditto antico dice:
"Nun se cummanna ′o core". E i′ mme sto zitto!...
E mme stó' zitto, sí...
Te voglio bene,
Te voglio bene,
E tu mme faje murí!
Chiagno p′ ammore, e cade 'o chianto mio
Dinto a ′sta testa: 'o chianto ′a sta arracquanno.
Schiòppa 'na bella rosa, e i' pe′ gulìo,
A chi mm′ha fatto chiagnere ce 'a manno.
Lle dico: "Rosa mia tu mme perduone
Si te scarpesarrá senza cuscienza..."
"Fa′ bene e scorda, e, si, faje male, penza..."
Piènzace buono, sì:
Te voglio bene,
Te voglio bene...
E tu mme faje murí...
The song "Canzone Appassionata" by Nino Rota is about unrequited love and the pain that comes with it. The singer describes planting a small tree with care and watching it grow, only to have it broken by the wind and lose its leaves and fruit. The singer compares the tree's fate to his own love, which is bitter and painful but still cherished. He sings that he loves the object of his affection so much that he feels like he is dying.
In the second verse, the singer compares his love to a canary who sings all day long out of a deep infatuation. He longs for the love to be returned but is met only with silence. Despite his heartbreak, the singer believes in the old saying that "the heart cannot be commanded" and keeps his feelings hidden. He concludes with a statement of acceptance that he loves the person deeply, even though it causes him great pain.
Line by Line Meaning
N′albero piccerillo aggio piantato,
I have planted a small tree,
Criscènnolo cu pena e cu sudore.
With hardship and sweat.
Na ventecata giá mme ll'ha spezzato,
A windstorm has already broken it,
E tutte ′e ffronne cágnano culore...
And all the leaves have lost their color.
Cadute so' giá 'e frutte. E tuttuquante
The fruits have already fallen. all of them
Erano doce, e se so′ fatte amare.
They were sweet, and I loved them.
Ma ′o core dice: "Oje giuvinotto amante,
But my heart says: "Oh, young lover,
′E ccose amare, tiénele cchiù care".
Things that are bitter are more precious."
E, amara comme si′,
And, as bitter as it may be,
Te voglio bene.
I love you.
Te voglio bene,
I love you,
E tu mme faje murí!
And you make me die!
Era comme 'o canario ′nnammurato,
It was like a canary in love,
Stu core che cantaje matina e sera...
This heart that sang morning and night...
"Scétate!" – io dico – E nun vo' sta′ scetato...
"Quiet!" - I say - And I don't want to be quiet...
E mo, nun canta manco a primmavera!...
And now, it doesn't even sing in the spring!...
Chi voglio bene nun mme fa felice:
Who I love doesn't make me happy:
Forse sta 'ncielo destinato e scritto.
Maybe it's written in the sky and destined.
Ma i' penzo ca nu ditto antico dice:
But I think that an old saying goes:
"Nun se cummanna ′o core". E i′ mme sto zitto!...
"The heart cannot be commanded." And I remain silent!...
E mme stó' zitto, sí...
And I remain silent, yes...
Te voglio bene,
I love you,
Te voglio bene...
I love you...
E tu mme faje murí!
And you make me die!
Chiagno p′ ammore, e cade 'o chianto mio
I cry for love, and my tears fall
Dinto a ′sta testa: 'o chianto ′a sta arracquanno.
Inside this head: the tears keep coming out.
Schiòppa 'na bella rosa, e i' pe′ gulìo,
I pick a beautiful rose, and I cry,
A chi mm′ha fatto chiagnere ce 'a manno.
For the one who made me cry, I hold it out to them.
Lle dico: "Rosa mia tu mme perduone
I say to them: "My rose, forgive me
Si te scarpesarrá senza cuscienza..."
If I'll enjoy you without conscience..."
Ce sta nu ditto ca mme dá ragione:
There is a saying that gives me reason:
"Fa′ bene e scorda, e, si, faje male, penza..."
"Do good and forget, and, yes, it hurts, think..."
Piènzace buono, sì:
Think about that, yes:
Te voglio bene,
I love you,
Te voglio bene...
I love you...
E tu mme faje murí...
And you make me die...
Contributed by Josiah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.