HIRUNDO

The piece is an interpretation of the popular theme taken from the Parmesan stornellata, better known in the local dialect as "La rondanen'na" (the swallow), hence the title Hirundo, an ancient Latin name for this bird.
The lyrics tell of a beautiful swallow that wanders to find a place to build its nest. When it arrives in Parma, the bird is enchanted by the scent of violets and by the musicality that the town itself emanates, so much so that it transforms even the water of the gutters and the blowing wind into a magnificent melody.
Once it finds the right place, a magnificent golden-throated nightingale appears: in a nutshell, a magnificent songbird. The beautiful swallow, impressed by the nightingale’s singing skills, asks him where it had learned to sing so well; the nightingale replies that it learned simply by perching on a branch of a tree in the ducal park listening to the magnificent songs of the city choir.
The piece starts with sounds portratying the flapping of birds' wings, and then moves on to a more random section in which the noises of the city can be heard; it ends with the main theme exposed in all its solemnity.