Gino Marinuzzi (Palermo, 24 marzo 1882 – Milano, 17 agosto 1945) was one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century. Although he moved to the north at a young age (first Milan and then Rome) he never stopped speaking his "language", or rather his dialect. He does not limit himself to studying a specific repertoire, but ranges across the music of all centuries, and always proves himself to be a Maestro. Marinuzzi trained at the Palermo Conservatory together with Giuseppe Mule', Alberto Favara and Guglielmo Zuelli (look the page "Palermo" for moreinformations), giving his music a contrapuntal armor of such depth and complexity that the analysis even leaves those who carry it out amazed.
The trait of the highest art, however, is to hide the technical work from those who are the work of art must contemplate (ars est celare artem): and so Marinuzzi's music, through his choices of timbre, his orchestration, his harmonies and the use of his knowledge of popular music, flows with extraordinary naturalness. His musical production ranges from theatrical works such as Palla de' Mozzi (1932) to symphonic and orchestral music. His style combines a solid contrapuntal foundation with an innovative modernity that has influenced contemporary artists1.
The Sicilian suite, published by Ricordi in 1910, is considered his first truly important composition, and through this composition Marinuzzi manages to express his Sicilian identity composed of various nuances and feelings. The score is composed of four movements (called "Tempi" by the author), of which the second and third are very short. The ensemble is large and includes triple woodwinds, a quartet of saxophones (optional), a rich set of percussions and the jew's harp, a popular Sicilian instrument. The peculiarity is not in the quantity of the instruments, but in their innovative and skilful use, which reflects Marinuzzi's extraordinary abilities as an orchestrator.
In the research in which I try to express the Sicilian identity through music, the Sicilian suite and Marinuzzi become emblematic for giving a complete view. This analysis aims to highlight and explain the feelings Marinuzzi recreates in his suite, as seen and understood by a Sicilian musician who shares the same passion for the same land and culture.
Example 81. Gino Marinuzzi, Suite siciliana - 1. La legenda di Natale, performed by Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Giuseppe Grazioli, recorded May 5, 2017, Universal Music Italia Srl, 2017, streaming audio, https://youtu.be/8wu61trziYs?si=OkMG3nSfwax31HUQ.
The first movement, "The Legend of Christmas", begins with a bell in E which rings six times. The first theme is characterized by a slow modal melody, played in unison by the English horn and the alto saxophone. A second theme responds to this melody, also modal, but this time sung by the whole orchestra. The atmosphere created is not that of a winter in Sicily, but rather in an Eastern European country or Russia.
Finally the piece seems to "unlock"; from A minor, it moves to F major with a festive motif announced by the harps, triangle and tambourine2. The idea is that of a parade, or a procession. At this point the cheerful theme announced before develops completely, leading to a small dance. The dance takes the listener back to Christmas in small villages, where children, wearing light coats, play in the street becausethe weather is not too cold. Slowly the melody is interrupted by a ringing of bells. The theme changes, the bass accompanied by the bells takes us to A major.
A very solemn theme follows, where the harps with their arpeggiated chords help to make the theme lighter.
But when it seems that we are returning again to the atmosphere of the beginning, Marinuzzi presents it with the playful and cheerful theme, blending them with each other. We arrive at the climax, in which Marinuzzi truly takes us back to the Christmas period. The use of instruments such as the trumpet, the English horn, the clarinet bring to mind typical Sicilian melodies and sounds. Little by little the theme moves further away, but the idea of the court remains imprinted in our minds. The movement ends with a feeling of cyclicality. The song will probably continue or be repeated in other streets of the town, exactly as happens in popular music processions in Sicily.
Example 82. Gino Marinuzzi, Suite siciliana - 2. La canzone dell'emigrante, performed by Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Giuseppe Grazioli, recorded May 5, 2017, Universal Music Italia Srl, 2017, streaming audio, https://youtu.be/kSRq00va0bk?si=juy9aZSCMSn2mk7B.
"The emigrant's song " is based on an Arabic scale, or harmonic minor, accompanied by a bassoon motif that resonates "sweet as a distant voice", as Marinuzzi himself remarks on the score, accompanied by harp arpeggios on the downbeat of the bar and by the pizzicati of violins "arpeggiando (almost guitar)"3.
The theme provided from the bassoon gives a timbre very similar to the English horn, but in this case more nostalgic, showing how the choice of instrumentation is made with great skill.
The movement "The Emigrant's Song" resonates deeply with the Sicilian experience and likely with the composer himself, who left his homeland while maintaining a strong connection to it. This theme remains relevant today, as many young people continue to leave Sicily in search of a job. The piece seems to capture the poignant moment when a Sicilian bids farewell to the island, gazing for the last time at a landscape of olive trees where mountains and sea blend together.
Emigration, a painful reality for Sicily in the early 20th century and still today, is not just a matter of moving away. Sicily’s strong cultural identity makes leaving the island feel like a separation far more profound than a simple relocation. The cultural and social divide between northern and southern Italy, which persists even now, often makes the moving like crossing into another country. Moreover, Sicily’s geographical position can place emigrants thousands of kilometers from home.
Listening to the piece in a conversation with Leonardo Campo4, a correlation was created between this movement and a prose text written by Alessandro Manzoni5. Listening again the movement and reading the text "Addio ai monti" taken from the book "I promessi sposi", make understandable even better the atmosphere that the composer wanted to recreate.
Farewell, mountains rising from the waters and soaring to the sky; uneven peaks, familiar to those who have grown up among you, engraved in their minds no less than the faces of their closest loved ones; torrents, whose roar they recognize as they do the sound of familiar voices; scattered villas, gleaming white on the slopes like flocks of grazing sheep—farewell! How sorrowful is the step of one who, having grown up among you, must leave! Even in the mind of one departing willingly, driven by the hope of making a fortune elsewhere, the dreams of wealth lose their charm in that moment; he marvels at having made such a decision and would turn back immediately if not for the thought that one day he will return wealthy. The farther he moves into the plain, the more his gaze, weary and disenchanted, withdraws from that vast, monotonous expanse; the air feels heavy and lifeless; he wanders sorrowfully and absentmindedly through the bustling cities; houses upon houses, streets opening onto other streets seem to suffocate him; and before buildings admired by strangers, he longs, with restless yearning, for the little field of his homeland, for the humble house he has long had his eye on and will buy when he returns rich to his mountains.
But what of those who had never even sent a fleeting wish beyond those mountains, who had built all their dreams of the future within them, only to be cast far away by a cruel force? Those who, torn at once from their dearest habits and shaken in their most cherished hopes, leave those mountains to set out in search of strangers they never wished to know, unable even to imagine a fixed moment for their return!
Farewell, native home, where, sitting in quiet thought, one learned to distinguish from the common footsteps the sound of a step awaited with a mysterious tremor. Farewell, home still unfamiliar, a house so often glimpsed in passing, not without a blush; where the mind had envisioned a peaceful and lifelong dwelling as a bride.
Farewell, church, where the soul so many times regained its serenity, singing the praises of the Lord; where a sacred rite had been promised and prepared; where the heart’s secret sigh was to be solemnly blessed, where love was to be commanded and called holy—farewell!
He who gave you so much joy is everywhere; and He never troubles the happiness of His children except to prepare for them a more certain and greater joy.6
This text captures the sorrow of departure, a sentiment that deeply resonates with the experience of Sicilian emigration, both in the past and present. As Manzoni’s words express the pain of leaving behind familiar landscapes and cherished hopes, the same express the movement The Emigrant’s Song, reflecting the moment when a Sicilian bids farewell to their homeland. Like Manzoni’s exiled character, many Sicilians who leave today do not simply move elsewhere; they experience a profound separation from a deeply rooted cultural identity.
Marinuzzi portrays emigration as a forced decision, driven by unemployment and the need for personal growth. It reflects the conflicted feelings of Sicilians who both love and resent their homeland—loving it for its deep connection to their identity, yet resenting the lack of opportunities that forces them to leave; an echo of the people that becomes relevant again and unites new and old generations. This theme also appears in the works of Rosa Balistreri, a 20th-century singer-songwriter, who captures similar emotions in one of her popular songs. Different musical styles can vary greatly, but the emotion they convey remains the same: Marinuzzi expresses himself in a symphonic form, while Rosa Balistreri reinterprets a folk song, making it particularly heartrending with her timbre.
Example 83. Rosa Balistreri, Nustalgia, streaming audio, https://youtu.be/R6MWFREKApI?si=c9RKdigVQnpNq8cf
Pensu a sta terra ca mi sta luntana,
sta terra prufumata sutta ‘u suli,
ca iu lassai pi ghiri a travagliari,
cu gran duluri e granni dispiaciri.
Pensu a la me casuzza chi lassai,
a li biddizzi di sta terra mia,
iu ccà li viu
‘nta ‘u sonnu e m’adduluru,
e pensu notti e jornu di turnari.
E’ ‘na ‘nfilicità luntanu stari,
luntanu di sta terra di Sicilia,
lassai la mamma
e tutti li me cari,
lassai l’oduri di la primavera.
Iu cantu pi putirimi scurdari,
ca sugnu fora di la casa mia,
cu stu distinu ccà nun c’è chi fari,
e pensu notti e jornu di turnari.
Lassatimi un raggiu di lu suli,
‘na guccitedda di l’azzurru mari,
lassati di la zagara l’oduri,
ca quannu tornu la vogliu truvari.
E’ ‘na ‘nfilicità luntanu stari,
luntanu di sta terra di Sicilia,
lassai l’amuri e tutti li me cari,
lassai l’oduri di la primavera.7
I think of this land that is far away,
this land scented under the sun,
which I left to work,
with great sorrow and deep regret.
I think of the little home I left behind,
of the beauty of my land,
I see it here in dreams and grieve,
and day and night I long to return.
It is misery to stay so far,
far from this land of Sicily.
I left my mother,
and all my loved ones,
I left behind the scent of spring.
I sing to try and forget,
that I am far from home,
but fate cannot be changed,
and day and night I long to return.
Leave me a ray of sunshine,
a drop of the blue sea,
leave me the scent of orange blossoms,
so when I return, I’ll find them there.
It is misery to stay so far,
far from this land of Sicily.
I left my love and all my dear ones,
I left behind the scent of spring.8
Example 84. Gino Marinuzzi, Suite siciliana - 3. Valzer campestre, performed by Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Giuseppe Grazioli, recorded May 5, 2017, Universal Music Italia Srl, 2017, streaming audio, https://youtu.be/9xKyyBgNHig?si=wyLJHDh7p7NDLZH_.
The third movement, "Country Waltz", was Marinuzzi's only popular song. It was later taken up by Shostakovicˇ in the Waltz of the second Jazz Suite. It was also used by Nino Rota in "The Godfather" and by Fabrizio De André9 in one of his songs.
We must imagine this piece performed by a small group of peasants in a farmyard. The simple melody in D minor is first played by the muted cornet, creating a Mahlerian atmosphere that foreshadows Shostakovich. When the melody is taken up by the unison strings, the mandolin effect—characterized by an unfixed, wavering pitch—is ingeniously achieved: the first violins play on the fourth string, the second violins perform a tremolo near the bridge, the violas break quarter notes into pizzicato eighth notes, and the cellos play the melody as written. Later, with staccato passages from the strings and muted trumpets, the crescendos and diminuendos of the woodwinds and horns mimic the motion of an accordion. In the final statement of the melody, a wordless female choir is added10. We will see more details on this movement in the next page.
Example 86. Gino Marinuzzi, Suite siciliana - 4. Festa popolare, performed by Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Giuseppe Grazioli, recorded May 5, 2017, Universal Music Italia Srl, 2017, streaming audio, https://youtu.be/zUUDkvkr-E4?si=SxQraEeyIiPuGVbz.
The last movement is certainly characteristic for the theme of the horns which recall a dance theme, similar to the tarantella. The theme of this dance travels through tones, breaks down and then recomposes again, in a truly unique harmonious and timbral game. In the movement of "Popular festival", Marinuzzi has great knowledge of both popular music and contemporary music of the time creating a unique fusion. The theme of the people remains very recognizable throughout the movement, but is never boring or repetitive.
In analysing, rediscovering and reading this composition I was surprised by the great use he made of the harp in his orchestration, which was often entrusted with different but always effective timbral nuances. Furthermore, when Marinuzzi inserts the harp into the ensemble it is never too covered by the other instruments, but stands out even in the largest orchestrations.