Giuseppe Calvino

Elegy To Mother Earth

Elegy to Mother Earth' is a reflection on how humans today are destroying their own planet, exterminating their own brothers with unjustifiable wars, and leading to wildlife extinction. Images of the atrocities perpetuated by humanity can be projected during the performance to make the message of this composition even stronger and more direct. The distorted sound of an electric guitar wants to communicate the feeling of anger that we all experience in witnessing any kind of cruelty. The guitarist has a prominent role in the piece and can be positioned separate from the rest of the ensemble, possibly also on a different level to emphasize the importance of the solo instrument. In the middle section of the piece, someone should read, against the background of the piano solo, some thoughts of children on wars, famine, and all sorts of violence inflicted by humans to their fellow men and animals. You can either use the texts attached to the composition, written by students of some primary schools in Trentino, or you can ask primary school children from the place where the performance of the piece takes place to write their own thoughts on the topic. It is amazing how much wisdom children are able to express with their purity and simplicity; their considerations can really make us reflect on these topics. Whether one uses the attached texts or new texts, children reading their thoughts can be very emotional. After the readings, however, the mood of the music radically changes: despair leaves room for hope, and images of suffering and destruction will give way to representations of such a beauty that it will enchant the audience...

A reflection on how humans today are destroying their own planet, exterminating their own brothers with unjustifiable wars, and leading to wildlife extinction.