Walter Bonadè

Putei Del Po

The composition ''Putei del Po'' (Children of the River Po), which is inspired by the poem of the same name by Romano Pascutto, commemorates the centenary of the birth of the poet. The work translates into sounds at times harsh and contrasting and at times sweet and dreamlike the beautiful verses with which Pascutto was able to describe the sad situation of endless misery that most of the people living in the Veneto region experienced in the middle of the last century. In the poem, the children with their fears and sacrifices, but also with their hopes, become the iconic image of humanity burdened by the injustices of the world.
The piece begins with a short introduction that features harsh and agitated sonorities that represent the hardships of life and rapidly lead into the main theme, a sorrowful and moving, almost resigned, melody: ''…putei del Po, co' i oci sbigottii, pieni di paura'' (Children of the River Po, with stunned eyes, filled with fear).
The composition unfolds short fragments of the introduction that alternate with the exposition of a child-like theme that features a very rhythmic and dissonant contour. It describes the carefreeness of the children, a quality that in this case they cannot fully express because of the hardships of everyday life: ''…pieni di paura de l'acqua e de la vita, col so arzene de miseria che mai se rompe, da secoli'' (filled with fear of water and of life, with its bulwark of misery that never breaks, in centuries).
The main theme returns one last time with a crescendo that recalls hope and the breaking of the river bank as a symbolic victory over a world where injustice prevented children from even smiling. Eventually, the child-like theme returns; this time it is a serene and joyful ''Ring Around the Rosie'': ''…ve vedaremo, putei, co' i oci che ride…le manine ciapade in girotondo…cantar la vostra primavera'' (we will see you, children with smiling eyes … holding hands in a Ring Around the Rosie … singing your youth).
This final theme dissolves slowly, because the story is now part of the past. But the memory is still present in many of those children who, now grandparents, are a living testament of that hard period and, maybe, feel nostalgic considering how today's affluence has destroyed many of the human values that built their own spiritual richness. For this reason, right at the end of the composition, the fast and mocking theme of life reappears, almost a warning for contemporary humans.

Homage to the poet Romano Pascutto in the occasion of the centenary of his birth. Composition commissioned by the Municipality of San Stino di Livenza (Venice)