This morning, while contemplating my emails re the May exhibition in Cassino, my reaction (and subsequent post) yesterday to what I interpreted as criticism of my culture, and the inextricable links between Italy and New Zealand, the word "legato" popped into my head.
It is an interesting word. In music, legato is playing smoothly, but not necessarily slurring the notes together. In Italian it means "tied together". In one of my favourite songs, Non Ti Scordar Di Me, it is used as an adverb, and becomes "legata" as it refers to "la vita" life, which is feminine. Here Pavarotti sings Non Ti Scordar Di Me (concert in Budapest, 1991).
"Tied" can have negative implications, but linked, intertwined, joined does have appeal. The strands of a rope are intertwined, giving it strength. When I first asked an Italian friend to translate the song for me he explained the word "legato" in those terms, the parts of a rope intertwined, joined together. In the context of the song that image is quite beautiful. Your life, and mine, entwined. And so it is with Italy and New Zealand.
The musical definition appeals to me too. Notes are played close together, but with careful fingering are not lost in one another. Maybe that is how our cultures should be. Each has a space, there is no supremacy, but together they make beautiful music.
Italy and New Zealand are truly tied together, with so many friendships formed between families during WWII and maintained after the war. Now, two generations later, the grandchildren of the Kiwi soldiers are returning to Italy to visit these families, and young Italians are moving to New Zealand. Every year hundreds of New Zealanders visit the graves of their countrymen who remained here.
The horror of war has passed into memory, but the friendships are alive and vibrant. Nationally this connection may feel stronger in New Zealand where almost every family has a direct link to Italy, whereas in Italy there are many areas where other nations played a similar role and have these same ties. Where I live it is New Zealanders and Canadians who have strong links with the Italian people.
While I continue to search for the most appropriate name for the exhibition in May, "Legato" along with "Papaveri per la Pace" (Poppies for Peace), is taking a prominent place in my thoughts.
Today I am grateful for a happy email from NZ.
A New Season Begins – March 2024
3 weeks ago
1 comment:
I'm loving the idea of legato as a title - as a piano player for many years as a child I vividly remember that phrase and can absolutely understand where you are coming from :-)
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