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La Montanara |
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Of all Trentino songs, La Montanara is perhaps the most lendary. It is the unofficial anthem of Trentino and remains a classic today. Its origin is a matter of legend. In 1927, during an excursion in the mountains, Toni Ortelli felt the words and melody come spontaneously to his mind. Set to music by Luigi Pigarelli, the song attained instant popularity that has lasted until today.
Below are the verses in both English and Italian: |
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La Montanara |
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La Montanara |
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Lassu' per le montagne
fra boschi e valli d'or
fra l'aspre rupi echeggia
un cantico d'amor.
La Montanara, ohe'!
si sente cantare,
cantiam la montanara
e che non la sa?
Lassu' sui monti tra i rivi d'argento
una capanna cosparsa di fior,
era la piccola, dolce dimora
di Soreghina la figlia del Sol. |
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Up there in the mountains
Among woods and valleys of gold
Among the rugged cliffs there echoes
A canticle of love.
La Montanara, ohe'!
You can hear sing,
We sing the Montanara
And who does not know it?
Up there in the mountains among banks of silver
A hut covered with flowers,
It was the sweet little dwelling-place
Of Soreghina, the daughter of the Sun. |
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The Trentino region also identifies strongly with the folk hero Andreas Hofer. His short biography is included below. |
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Andreas Hofer (1767-1810) was a Tirolese patriot, born in St. Leonhard in the Austrian Alps, not far from the present day city of Merano. When the Tirol was transferred to Bavaria, an ally of France, by the Peace of Pressburg of 1805, Hofer became the leader of resistance to Bavarian rule. He raised a force of Tirolese that in 1809 drove out the Bavarian army. In spite of assurances given to Hofer by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, the Tirol was surrendered to the French by the armistice of Znaim, and a force of 40,000 French and Bavarian troops attempted to occupy the territory. Hofer repulsed the invasion and was elected governor of the Tirol. The treaty of Schonbrunn of October 1809, however, again ceded the Tirol to Bavaria, and French troops occupied the region. Hofer revolted once more, but he was defeated and two months later was betrayed to the French, who court-martialed and executed him by firing squad in Mantua, Italy. |
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