Sophie HassfurtherThe other day, I stumbled upon some incidental music I had written a few years ago for a theatre production focused on the working conditions and struggles of female laborers in Austria. Their solidarity and perseverance were key in challenging inhumane practices and securing rights we often take for granted today: sick pay, care allowances, vacation time.<br><br>To set the right atmosphere for the play, which takes place in the 1920s and 1930s, I delved into workers’ and partisan songs from that era. I spent time exploring archives and various online and offline collections, eventually narrowing down a selection of songs I would use or that inspired me to compose original pieces.<br><br>One traditional song I kept unchanged and chose to arrange was <em>Nebbi'a la valle</em>, an olive picker's song from Abruzzo. There’s something haunting about the melody. It is striking in its simplicity, and yet it lingers long after it’s heard. Here is a recording I did for archival purposes (not mixed or mastered, and we had one stereo mic we used during a live show)<br><br><a href="https://hub.somaton.com/attach/26fc9558-b322-4ab0-9eb9-8c6fbd1604e4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://hub.somaton.com/attach/26fc9558-b322-4ab0-9eb9-8c6fbd1604e4</a><br><br><br>This song with a <a href="https://www.storiecantifoglivolanti.it/nebbi-a-la-valle/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">text</a> full of evocative analogies is said to have been sung by partisans. With fascism reappearing in various forms across Europe today, I find meaning in keeping these musical memories alive.<br><br>#<a class="" href="https://hub.somaton.com/search?tag=italian" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">italian</a> #<a class="" href="https://hub.somaton.com/search?tag=music" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">music</a> #<a class="" href="https://hub.somaton.com/search?tag=theatre" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">theatre</a> #<a class="" href="https://hub.somaton.com/search?tag=musicaltheatre" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">musicaltheatre</a> #<a class="" href="https://hub.somaton.com/search?tag=folk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">folk</a> #<a class="" href="https://hub.somaton.com/search?tag=partisanship" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">partisanship</a>