Tutti morimmo a stento

Tutti morimmo a stento
Studio album by Fabrizio De André
Released	November 1968
Recorded	RCA Italiana studios, Rome, August 1968
Genre	Folk
Length	33:41
Label	Bluebell Records (BB LP 32)
Producer	Gian Piero Reverberi Giorgio Agazzi
Fabrizio De André chronology
Vol. 1° (1967) Tutti morimmo a stento (1968) Vol. 3° (1968)
Singles from Tutti morimmo a stento
"Leggenda di Natale/Inverno" Released: 1969

Tutti morimmo a stento [Full title: Tutti morimmo a stento (cantata in Si minore per solo, coro e orchestra)], (translatable as We All Barely Died or We All Died Agonizingly)^[1] is the second album and the third studio release by Fabrizio De André, issued in 1968 by Bluebell Records. The album, whose lyrics are inspired by the poetry of François Villon, is considered one of the first concept albums ever realized in Italy.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Fabrizio De André, except where indicated., all music composed by Fabrizio De André and Gian Piero Reverberi..

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
1.	"Cantico dei drogati"	De André, Riccardo Mannerini	7:06
2.	"Primo intermezzo"		1:58
3.	"Leggenda di Natale"		3:14
4.	"Secondo intermezzo"		1:57
5.	"Ballata degli impiccati"	De André, Giuseppe Bentivoglio	4:21
6.	"Inverno"		4:11
7.	"Girotondo"		3:08
8.	"Terzo intermezzo"		2:12
9.	"Recitativo (Due invocazioni e un atto d'accusa)"		0:47
10.	"Corale (Leggenda del re infelice)"		4:59

The English version

In 1969, Italian producer Antonio Casetta had the idea to realize an English version of the record, so De André re-recorded the vocal tracks. This version was never officially released and the only printed copy was thought to be lost until 2007, when a U.S. collector revealed that it had been in his possession for almost 40 years.^[2]

Tutti morimmo a stento English version tracklist
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lament of the Junkie"	7:06
2.	"First Intermezzo"	1:58
3.	"Legend of Christmas"	3:14
4.	"Second Intermezzo"	1:57
5.	"Ballad of the Hanged"	4:21
6.	"Winter"	4:11
7.	"Ring Around the H-Bomb"	3:08
8.	"Relativity"	5:45

Songs

"Cantico dei drogati"

The opener of the album is based on a Riccardo Mannerini poem titled "Eroina" ("Heroin").
The protagonist of the song is a drug addict who, on the verge of death, imagines seeing glass pixies, the bounds of infinity and the sound of silence. In his last moment, he seems to regret his ways, seeing his drug addiction as a coward's escape from reality.^[3]

"Leggenda di Natale"

is based on the song "Le Père Noël et la Petite Fille", written by Georges Brassens.

"Girotondo"

De André sings together with the children's choir I Piccoli Cantori.

Personnel

• Fabrizio De André: vocals, classical guitar.
• The Rome Philarmonia Orchestra conducted by Gian Piero Reverberi.
• All orchestral arrangements by Gian Piero Reverberi.
• Pietro Carapellucci Choir conducted by Gian Piero Reverberi (in "Corale").
• "I Piccoli Cantori" Children Choir (in "Girotondo").

References

1. The two proposed translations are interchangeable, because the phrase "a stento" in Italian is used to refer to something that almost failed, but ended up succeeding. So in Italian, the title is a pun contrasting the positivity of a thwarted sinister outcome and the negativity of death.
2. (Italian) Scoperto negli Usa inedito di De André Canta in inglese "Tutti morimmo a stento". Bruno Persano, published September 21, 2007
3. Original lyrics: "[...]tu che m'ascolti, insegnami/un alfabeto che sia/differente da quello/della mia vigliaccheria".