THE WIND OF MAY

The title
Colours, nature, countryside, re-elaborated in its most decisive and imposing features, new light, odours, sounds and noises, are just some of the elements that have inspired this composition. It is May, the month of reawakening and propitiatory rights for the first harvests of the earth. This is the month that exalts fertility and abundance;more generally, it is a moment inspired by a renewal and regeneration of nature and mankind. The most widespread folk tradition was that of carrying a tall pole to the village square, adorning it with ribbons and the produce of the land (which subsequently became a greasy pole for fun and games);at same time the previous year's pole was burned and the ashes, which were thought to possess special and magical properties, were scattered over the fields. Another very common custom what that of the May King and Queen: two youths, healthy and robust, were chosen and crowned as King and Queen of May. The festivity often involved races to the Maypole, or horse racing or again processions with the May pole carried across the fields to make them more fertile. This piece seeks to re-evoke those traditions, at times distant and somewhat faded memories, but always present, as evocative images of the great reawakening of nature brought about by the "Wind of May".