TIERA LADINA

Livinallongo del Col di Lana (Fodóm in Ladin, Buchenstein in German) is an Italian town in the province of Belluno with a Ladin ethnic and lingustic minority, which counts around 1300 inhabitants. Its City Hall is located in the neighborhood of Pieve di Livinallongo, and it belongs to the Ladinia district. The Fodóm Wind Band or “Mujica da Fodóm,” was founded in February 2005 on the initiative of some enthusiasts of musical culture, and it was supported by the families of Fodóm. From its foundation to 2012, the wind band was conducted by Laura Argenta, and since 2012 it has been conductedby Giuliano Federa. Initially, the wind band counted a very limited number of performers, but this number has grown and now the ensemble counts forty-five musicians all coming from the town of Livinallongo and the neighboring valleys. The composition Tiera Ladina (Ladin Land), which was commissioned for the Fodóm Wind Band by its founder Giovanni Pellegrini, combines historical and landscape aspects of the Ladin valleys with the history of this young ensemble. In the first part, a fanfare and a solemn theme alternate in the description of a territory rich in history and natural beauty. A historical symbol of the valley is the castle of Andraz: a splendid medieval stronghold, today a major tourist destination. The Adagio of the second part describes, by way of a formal construction featuring both a timbral and a melodic crescendo, the history of the wind band, today an emblem of culture and tradition. The third part, an Allegro in minor mode with developments in its relative major modes, portrays the past of the Ladin valleys, which have been for centuries theaters of war conflicts. The reprise of the Adagio theme offers a final musical reflection on the young wind band and leads to the concluding section where the initial fanfare is intertwined with the notes of the Marseillaise and the Hapsburg Hymn (today the German national anthem): a tribute to Caterina Lanz, who is buried in the Livinallongo cemetery and is remembered for her heroic act against the French invaders.