Lorenzo Salvagni

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Located between Rome and Naples, at the foot of the Lepini Mountains, Ninfa takes its name from an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the nymphs. After the fall of the Roman empire, the Appian Way (which connected Rome to Naples) became unsafe to travel because of the surrounding malaria-ridden swamps and bandit attacks. This gave the Ninfa settlement a new role and importance because of its strategic position on the "Pedemontana" road that bypassed the swamps and its dangers. Ninfa became a wealthy city by imposing hefty fees on all the travelers and traders, but it also made the surrounding towns jealous and very angry! In 1382 a large army descended upon Ninfa and proceeded to sack and raze the city to the ground. Its inhabitants were absorbed by the neighboring villages. Ninfa remained a ruin until the 1920s, when the last descendants of the powerful Caetani family turned into a picturesque garden, "the most romantic garden in Italy" or "the Pompeii of the Middle Ages," as it is often described. With such a complicated and tragic history, it was only natural for Ninfa to become the subject of many legends. According to one version of the story, the king of Ninfa wanted to reclaim the surrounding farmland from the swamp, and promised his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage to the man who could accomplish this feat of engineering and hydraulics. A powerful wizard took on the challenge and - using dark magic - was able to drain the swamp in one night! Alas, the princess of Ninfa was in love with someone else, and rather than marrying the wicked wizard she threw herself from the tallest tower into the depth of the lake below. This is where poet Augusto Sindici begins his tale: after her premature demise, the poor princess turned into an evil sorceress, and decided to take her revenge against her father and all the people who dared to pass by the cursed lake. She wove a poisonous cape that could instantly suck the youth out of anyone who touched it, and started haunting the roads at night, only returning to her watery grave during the day. This story is clearly an allegory that portrays the symptoms of malaria (consumption, drowsiness, fever etc.) in a more compelling and romantic fashion. The swamps were finally drained in the 1930s, but only after many more people succumbed to the dark power of the lake!

La Fata di Ninfa

Sabaudia città metafisica (poem by Rodolfo Carelli)
One of the five cities built after the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes, Sabaudia (est. 1934) is the most aesthetically pleasing and a perfect model for the architectural movement known as Rationalism. It is also Carelli’s hometown, and in his verses Sabaudia’s iconic architectural elements (ramps, arches, towers) blend with the poet’s feelings for his beloved community.

La mia è una città spaziale			Mine [my city] is a city of space
Per come il cielo la fa da padrone	For how the sky rules it
Per come lievita altrove				For how the soul levitates elsewhere
L’anima rapita in un baleno			Captured in a ray of light
Dalle rampe di lancio e torri,		By its ramps and its towers
Emblema della comunità			Emblem of the community
Patrie del cuore, ellissi				Heart’s homeland, ellipse
Di un amore conteso tra due fuochi	of a love caught in between two fires:
L’Io e il mio Dio					My God and I!

Sabaudia citta metafisica

Poet Anna Michielon lives in Sabaudia. Her work is intimately connected to the history and folklore of the Pontine plains, a coastal region that stretches between Rome and Naples. “Suggestioni estive” (Summer Evocations) focuses on one magical evening, when the music from a distant performance reaches the poet as she stands on the balcony of her apartment in Sabaudia. The notes of different instruments seem to blend with the landscape: the seashore, the wind, a starry sky. We don’t know what music was being performed; the poet leaves that to the imagination, focusing instead on the magical vibe created by those faraway sounds. The composer, however, inserted a 1-measure citation from a famous Italian song: “Dimmi quando tu verrai” (Tell me when you will arrive). Can you find it?  

Suggestioni estive
by Anna Michielon


Una musica lontana
sovrasta il silenzio della sera
e dolcemente trova il suo cammino
fin dove l'eco spande l'onda. 


Il cielo, pentagramma infinito
accoglie le sapienti note dell'orchestra;
stelle vibranti che spargono veli di nuove emozioni.


Il suono del violino mi porta il vento,
il flauto il profumo del mare,
la chitarra la bellezza del lago
ed il pianoforte la regalità del Circeo.


Sabaudia è magica stasera! 
Alla finestra indugio rapita
assaporando l'inatteso sussurro. 


Summer Evocations
by Anna Michielon


A distant music fills the silence of the night
and gently makes its way to the shore,
where its echo multiplies.


The sky, like a boundless music canvas,
captures the orchestra's crafty tunes; 
They are stars that radiate new emotions.


The sound of the violin brings me the wind;
the flute, the scent of the sea. 


This evening, Sabaudia is bewitched!  
I linger at the window, captivated,
as I savor the unexpected whispers.

Suggestioni Estive

Primavera vien danzando (poem by Mattia Pacilli)
On the night of the Catholic Feast of Ascension, on the Lepini mountains, giant bonfires are lit and the villagers dance to celebrate the arrival of spring, while shouting the exciting verses that provide the text for the closing piece of this collection. It is a joyous song that says farewell to winter, and hello to another long-expected spring! 

Primavera vien danzando! 				        Spring comes dancing!
La dea Maja sta arrivando,				        Divine Maya is about to arrive,
Pioggia e vento andate via,				        Rain and wind be gone,
Venga il sole nelle vigne,				        May the sun shine on the vineyards,
Su pei pascoli, nei campi. 				        On the grazing lands, on the fields.
Rivestitevi di gioia e cantate				        Dress yourselves in joy and sing 
“Viva Maja!” Presto il sole arriverà…			“Hail Maya!” The sun will soon arrive…
Il dio Fauno sta arrivando! Viene, viene,		The divine Faun is coming! He comes,
E gli affanni se ne vanno! I dolori dell’inverno,	And all the pain goes away! 
La tristezza della pioggia, 				        The sorrows of the Winter,
la malinconia del vento…				        The sadness of the rain and the wind… 
Via! Via! 						                        Be gone!
Venga il sole, con la gioia e con l’amore!		Let the sun shine, with joy and love!

Primavera vien danzando

SSAA

Torre Paola is a defensive outpost built in the 15th century to protect the coast from pirate
incursions. It is located on a promontory between Rome and Naples, in the location where -
according to legend - the Goddess Circe once lived, and where Ulysses landed in the famous
chapter of Homer's Odyssey. In Rodolfo Carelli's poem, the tower symbolizes Circe waiting for
the return of her lost lover. In the music we hear the sound of the waves, the wind, and the
sirens calling for Ulysses. His ancestral home, Ithaca, is now “wherever a woman awaits, unable
to forget.”

Torre Paola

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La Fata di Ninfa

Sabaudia citta metafisica

Suggestioni Estive

Primavera vien danzando

Torre Paola