Fischia il vento

Last updated
"Fischia il vento"
Song
English title"The Wind Whistles"
WrittenSeptember 1943
Composer(s) Matvei Blanter
Lyricist(s) Felice Cascione

"Fischia il vento" ("The Wind Blows") is an Italian popular song whose text was written in late 1943, at the inception of the Resistance. The tune is based on the Russian song Katyusha . Along with Bella ciao it is one of the most famous songs celebrating the Italian resistance, the anti-fascist movement that fought the forces that occupied Italy during World War II. [1]

Contents

History

The song was broadcast after 8 September 1943 between the high valley of Andora - Stellanello in Passu du Beu behind the Pizzo d'Evigno and afterwards above Curenna, in the "Casone dei Crovi", in the high Valley of Albenga, where the partisan squad led by Felice Cascione took refuge. During that period there were still no partisan songs; therefore, people sang old communist and socialist songs: L'Internazionale, La guardia rossa, Bandiera rossa or the song of anarchic origin Addio Lugano Bella, transformed into Addio Imperia Bella, Vieni o maggio (o Canzone del maggio), on the melody of "Nabucco".

Giacomo Sibilla, battle name Ivan, survivor of the campaign of Russia, joined the partisan squad led by Felice Cascione, where he was added into the 2nd Regiment Genio Pontieri. In the region of Don, Ivan had known Russian prisoners and women, and from them he learned the song Katyusha. Ivan brought it with him to Italy, and in the Passu du Beu he sketched a few verses together with Vittorio Rubicone, Vittorio il Biondo. Then the commander Cascione intervened. Together with Silvano Alterisio, battle name Vassili, and other comrades the verses written by Felice some time prior were adapted to the Russian melody. Recently the "casone" where u Megu and his comrades began writing the famous song was rediscovered. The composition was terminated in the Casone dei Crovi, a location not too distant from the Monte Peso Grande, occupied by partisans in the beginning of the winter of 1943. [2]

Debut

The song was sung for the first time in Curenna, fraction of Vendone, in Christmas 1943, but it was broadcast officially in Alto, in the square in front of the church, the day of Epiphany 1944. Three weeks after Felice Cascione was killed in battle by nazifascists, and his squad carried his name from that moment on. Right after, this partisan nucleus got larger, and even the twenty-year-old Italo Calvino, living in Sanremo, joined that group with the battle name Santiago, since he was born in Cuba in Santiago de las Vegas. Afterwards Fischia il Vento officially became the anthem of the Brigate Partigiane Garibaldi. [3]

In the original lyrics the verse "eppur bisogna andar" ("but we must march on") was actually "eppur bisogna ardir" ("but we must dare"), as documented in the book by Giorgio Pagano, with the title taken from the original verse. [4]

Sample lyrics

Original Italian lyrics:Translated English lyrics:

Fischia il vento, infuria [urla] la bufera,
scarpe rotte eppur bisogna andar
a conquistare la rossa primavera
dove sorge il sol dell'avvenir,
a conquistare la rossa primavera
dove sorge il sol dell'avvenir.

Ogni contrada è patria del ribelle,
ogni donna a lui dona un sospir,
nella notte lo guidano le stelle
forte il cuore e il braccio nel colpir,
nella notte lo guidano le stelle
forte il cuore e il braccio nel colpir.

Se ci coglie la crudele morte,
dura vendetta verrà dal partigian;
ormai sicura è [già] la dura sorte
del fascista vile traditor,
ormai sicura è [già] la dura sorte
del fascista vile traditor.

Cessa il vento, calma è la bufera,
torna a casa il fiero partigian,
sventolando la rossa sua bandiera;
vittoriosi e alfin liberi siam.
sventolando la rossa sua bandiera;
vittoriosi e alfin liberi siam.

The wind whistles, the storm rages,
our shoes are broken but we must march on,
to conquer the red spring,
where the sun of the future rises.
to conquer the red spring,
where the sun of the future rises.

Every street is fatherland to the rebel,
every woman has a sigh for him,
the stars guide him through the night,
strong his heart and his arm when they strike.
the stars guide him through the night,
strong his heart and his arm when they strike.

If cruel death catches us
harsh revenge will come from the partisan
already certain is the harsh fate
of the vile treasonous fascist.
already certain is the harsh fate
of the vile treasonous fascist.

The wind stops and the storm calms,
the proud partisan returns home,
blowing in the wind his red flag,
victorious, at last free we are.
blowing in the wind his red flag,
victorious, at last free we are.

Recordings

In Films

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella ciao</span> Italian anti-fascist folk song

"Bella ciao" is an Italian protest folk song from the late 19th century, originally sung by the mondina workers in protest against the harsh working conditions in the paddy fields of Northern Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katyusha (song)</span> Soviet folk-based song and military march

"Katyusha", also transliterated as "Katjuša", "Katioucha", or "Katiusza", is a Soviet-era folk-based song and military march composed by Matvey Blanter in 1938, with lyrics in Russian written by the Soviet poet Mikhail Isakovsky. It gained fame during World War II as a patriotic song, inspiring the population to serve and defend their land in the war effort. The song was still popular in Russia in 1995. The song is the source of the nickname of the BM-8, BM-13, and BM-31 "Katyusha" rocket launchers that were used by the Red Army in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giorgio Gaber</span> Musical artist

Giorgio Gaber, by name of Giorgio Gaberscik, was an Italian singer, composer, actor, and playwright. He was also an accomplished guitar player and author of one of the first rock songs in Italian. With Sandro Luporini, he pioneered the musical genre known as teatro canzone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modena City Ramblers</span>

Modena City Ramblers is an Italian folk rock band founded in 1991. Their music is heavily influenced by Celtic themes, and can be compared to folk rock music. The band has sold over 500,000 albums. Known for their left-wing politics, their lyrics often speak out against the Mafia and fascism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucio Battisti</span> Italian singer-songwriter and composer (1943–1998)

Lucio Battisti was an influential Italian singer-songwriter and composer. He is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KUD Idijoti</span>

KUD Idijoti was a punk rock band from Pula, Croatia. The name of the band translates to Cultural Artistic Society "Idiots" The word Idijoti is deliberately spelled wrong, the correct Croatian form of the word being idioti. The prefix 'KUD' is a common designation for amateur folklore dance and music groups in the ex-Yugoslav countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milva</span> Italian singer and actress (1939–2021)

Maria Ilva Biolcati, OMRI, known as Milva, was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as La Rossa, due to the characteristic colour of her hair, and additionally as La Pantera di Goro, which stemmed from the Italian press having nicknamed the three most popular Italian female singers of the 1960s, combining the names of animals and the singers' birthplaces. The colour also characterised her leftist political beliefs, claimed in numerous statements. Popular in Italy and abroad, she performed on musical and theatrical stages the world over, and received popular acclaim in her native Italy, and particularly in Germany and Japan, where she often participated in musical events and televised musical programmes. She released numerous albums in France, Japan, Korea, Greece, Spain, and South America.

Bandiera Rossa, often also called Avanti Popolo after its opening words, is one of the most famous songs of the Italian labour movement. It glorifies the red flag, symbol of the socialist and communist movements. The text was written by Carlo Tuzzi in 1908; the melody is taken from two Lombard folk songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zog nit keyn mol</span> Yiddish-language Jewish resistance anthem against the Holocaust

"Zog nit keyn mol" sometimes "Zog nit keynmol" or "Partizaner lid" [Partisan Song]) is a Yiddish song considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial services around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riccardo Garrone (actor)</span> Italian actor

Riccardo Garrone was an Italian actor and dubber.

Casa del vento is a left wing Italian folk rock band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ANPI</span> Italian veterans association of anti-fascist partisans

Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia is an association founded by partisans and participants of the Italian Resistance against the Italian fascist regime and the subsequent Nazi occupation during World War II. ANPI was founded in Rome in 1944, as the war continued in northern Italy. It was constituted as a charitable foundation on 5 April 1945. It persists due to the activity of its anti-fascist members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Facchinetti</span> Musical artist

Francesco Facchinetti, also known as Dj Francesco or as Oz, is an Italian DJ, producer, singer, musician and TV presenter. He rose to fame as a singer during the summer of 2003, when he released his debut single, "La canzone del capitano", which became a hit in Italy. Before retiring from his music career in 2007, he released three studio albums, and he competed in the Sanremo Music Festival three times. He is the founder of Italian EDM trio "We Are PresidentS".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bianca Atzei</span> Musical artist

Veronica Atzei – better known by her stage name Bianca Atzei – is an Italian singer and television personality.

The organization officially known as Volante Rossa "Martiri Partigiani", often mentioned simply as Volante Rossa, was a clandestine antifascist paramilitary organization active in and around Milan in the postwar to the Second World War, from 1945 to 1949. Led by "tenente Alvaro", nom-de-guerre of Giulio Paggio, it was made up of communist partisans and workers who aimed with their actions to build a continuity with the wartime action of the Italian Resistance.

Marnik is an Italian progressive house duo formed by Alessandro Martello and Emanuele Longo.

"Avanti ragazzi di Buda" is an Italian anti-communist song. Written by Pier Francesco Pingitore and composed by Dimitri Gribanovski, it commemorates the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and is a widespread and well-known song in Italy, having some presence in Hungary as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monte Peso Grande</span> Mountain in Italy

Monte Peso Grande o Castell'Ermo (1.092 m) is a mountain of the Ligurian Prealps, the eastern section of the Ligurian Alps.

References

  1. ↑ Stanislao G. Pugliese, Stanislao Pugliese (2004). Fascism, Anti-fascism, and the Resistance in Italy: 1919 to the Present. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 246. ISBN   9780742531222.
  2. ↑ DONATELLA ALFONSO (16 April 2014). FISCHIA IL VENTO;FELICE CASCIONE E IL CANTO DEI RIBELLI. [Place of publication not identified]: CASTELVECCHI. ISBN   978-88-6826-574-8. OCLC   1105713368.
  3. ↑ "Intervista a due partigiani del comandante Felice Cascione, l'autore di "Fischia il vento"". anpi.it. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  4. ↑ ""Eppur bisogna ardir", il nuovo libro di Pagano all'Allende". Citta della Spezia (in Italian). 2015-12-05. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  5. ↑ "Milva - Bella Ciao-Fischia il Vento (canti dei Partigiani)". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  6. ↑ "Fischia il vento - Modena City Ramblers". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  7. ↑ "Fischia il vento - Skiantos". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  8. ↑ "Banda Bassotti - Fischia Il Vento". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  9. ↑ "P38PUNK Fischia il Vento". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  10. ↑ "Talco - Fischia il vento [10 years - Live in Iruña]". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  11. ↑ "KENOBIT - Fischia il Vento". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  12. ↑ "NH3 - Fischia il vento - Bella ciao". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  13. ↑ "Greta Olm-Fischia il Vento". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.