Nella Sardegna sud-occidentale si trova una località rinomata per la bellezza della costa e del mare e conosciuta come Capo Malfatano. Quest’area, caratterizzata da un lungo promontorio che delimita una baia poco profonda in cui giacciono i resti di un antico e importante porto cartaginese, fu battezzata dagli arabi "Amal Fatah" ossia “Luogo della Speranza”. La laguna, per via delle acque sempre calme e protette dai venti, rappresentava, infatti, un approdo sicuro per le navi sorprese in mare dalla tempesta. Oggi Capo Malfatano continua ad accogliere le imbarcazioni provenienti dall'Africa del nord, ma non sono più le grandi navi dei cartaginesi a sfidare il mare, bensì i barconi dei profughi che scappando dalla guerra e dalla miseria vanno incontro al loro destino.

 In Amal Fatah ogni brano è costruito su alcuni elementi metrici, timbrici o espressivi del repertorio di danze e canti della tradizione orale sarda. E’ il resoconto, intimo e poetico, di un viaggio nel cuore della propria cultura d’origine, nel tentativo di recuperare gli archetipi di un linguaggio musicale complesso e fortemente impermeabile, attraverso il continuo gioco di specchi tra lo strumento colto, la chitarra classica, e quello popolare, la terzina campidanese con le corde in metallo. 

La rotta è indicata proprio dallo strumento popolare che librandosi nella libera improvvisazione guadagna una nuova prospettiva di sé, pur mantenendo il timbro e le accordature originarie (A trunfa, Nodas n.2, Ferro e Onirico I, II e III).

Boghes richiama lo stile e il movimento accordale del canto a quattro parti dell’area centro-settentrionale dell’isola (Cuncordu), mentre Dantza de is Janas e Sciampitta de ghitarras si sviluppano seguendo i principi metrico-modulari del ballo campidanese. 

S’acabbadora è interamente costruito su elementi metrici e timbrici riconducibili al repertorio delle launeddas e si articola in quattro momenti senza soluzione di continuità: Presagio, Sa mazzocca, Sonus’e memoria, Dantza de is animas bias. In quest’ultimo la scrittura a tre voci, che si muovono in un ambito melodico ristretto e che stanno tra loro in rapporto di contrappunto, richiama quella delle tre canne che formano le launeddas: tumbu, mancosa e mancosedda. 

Boghe d’ànghelu era la voce che annunciava la morte di un bambino, Il brano è scritto attorno a due elementi espressivi di quel lamento funebre (attitidu): il singhiozzare sofferente del canto e il richiamo ai momenti di gioia vissuti quando l’infante era in vita. 

Come in ogni viaggio che si rispetti mano a mano che si prosegue ci si accorge che i confini non sono poi così invalicabili e si accresce la percezione che le barriere esistano più in virtù di ragioni geografiche e politiche che culturali. Così accade, ad esempio, che alcuni frammenti della canzone “Ma ychali youm al harb ghir” del cantautore berbero Al Hadj Al Anka finiscano quasi accidentalmente nel sistema metrico modulare delle nodas del ballo campidanese generando il brano Amal Fatah. 

Satiniana è infine un omaggio a Erik Satie e a quello che avrebbe idealmente potuto comporre se nel suo immaginario avessero trovato posto, oltre alle danze greche, anche quelle sardo-campidanesi 

In southwestern Sardinia lies a place renowned for the beauty of its coastline and sea, known as Capo Malfatano. This area, characterized by a long promontory enclosing a shallow bay where the remains of an ancient and important Carthaginian harbor rest, was named by the Arabs "Amal Fatah," meaning "Place of Hope." Thanks to its calm waters, sheltered from the winds, the lagoon provided a safe haven for ships caught at sea by storms. Today, Capo Malfatano continues to welcome vessels arriving from North Africa, but it is no longer the great Carthaginian ships that brave the sea; but rather the boats of refugees who, fleeing from war and poverty, meet their fate.

 In Amal Fatah, each track is built around specific metrical, timbral, or expressive elements drawn from the repertoire of dances and songs of Sardinian oral tradition. It is an intimate and poetic exploration of the composer’s cultural roots—a journey into the heart of his native culture that traces the essential features of a rich and distinctive musical language through the dialogue between the classical guitar and the metal-stringed Campidanese guitar. 

The path is charted by the traditional instrument itself, which, through free improvisation, acquires a new perspective on its own identity while preserving its original timbre and tunings (A trunfa, Nodas n. 2, Ferro e Onirico I, II, and III). 

Boghes evokes the style and harmonic movement of the four-part vocal tradition (Cuncordu) of central and northern Sardinia, while Dantza de is Janas and Sciampitta de ghitarras unfold according to the metrical and modular principles of Campidanese dance. 

S’acabbadora is based entirely on metrical and timbral elements drawn from the launeddas repertoire and is divided into four uninterrupted sections: Presagio, Sa mazzocca, Sonus’e memoria, and Dantza de is animas bias. In the latter, the three-part texture, moving within a narrow melodic range and counterpointed, recalls the interplay of the three pipes of the launeddas: tumbu, mancosa, and mancosedda. 

Boghe d’ànghelu was the cry that announced the death of a child. The piece is built around two expressive features of this funeral lament (attitidu): the anguished, sob-like quality of the singing and the evocation of moments of joy experienced during the child’s life. 

As with any meaningful journey, one gradually realizes that borders are not as insurmountable as they first appear, and that barriers often exist more for geographical and political reasons than for cultural ones. Thus, fragments of the song “Ma ychali youm al harb ghir” by Berber singer-songwriter Al Hadj Al Anka find their way, almost by chance, into the metrical and modular framework of the nodas of Campidanese dance, giving rise to the track Amal Fatah. 

Satinana is ultimately a tribute to Erik Satie and to what he might have composed had his imagination been shaped by the landscapes, sounds, and traditions of Sardinia.

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BIO

FRANCESCO MORITTU

Guitarist and composer from Cagliari (Sardinia) holds a degree in classical guitar and one in Ethnomusicology from the DAMS of Bologna, with a research work on dance music for guitar in the folk repertory of South Sardinia (Campidano). Francesco is an eclectic and versatile musician, and works across different artistic fields and with musicians of various genres. He has written, arranged and performed (as a soloist and in different ensembles) music for concerts, stage plays and documentaries. In the past years, he focused his efforts as a composer on the research and the reinvention of the archetypes of Sardinian popular music into his own personal language. S'acabbadòra, for solo guitar, was the first outcome of this research, and was awarded the 2° place at the International Guitar Composition Competition "BRESCIA CONTEMPORARY GUITAR 2008”. It is now published by Edizioni Curci. 

Since then, his music has been regularly performed by numerous artists both in Italy and abroad (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, England, France, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and USA).  In 2011, he collaborated with Cuban composer Ailem Carvajal, who asked him to record Feketek, seis miniaturas para guitarra for her album Isla (2012), which won the "classical music" section of the prestigious "Cubadisco 2013" recording competition. He subsequently collaborated with Sardinian double bass player and composer Sebastiano Dessanay on Duets of a Fool (2016) and 377: (2022). 

In 2016, he wrote the triptych Giogu de Contus for double bass duo, dedicated to Rinaldo Asuni and Francesco Sergi and recorded the CD Nautilus for the independent label Stella Recordings, his first solo work which collects original compositions in which written parts and improvisation blend seamlessly. 

In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, he wrote Attitus, a suite for flute in G and guitar dedicated to the Cordas et Bentu Duo and published by Canadian publisher D'oz. In 2023, together with Stefano Colombelli, Carlo Pusceddu, Giulia Pisu, and Irene Coni, he launched the "Arrepicus" project, which features a guitar, double bass, percussion, and vocals. The project aims to be a sort of musical workshop in which to experiment and compose new music, exploring concrete and viable paths between the world of culture and that of Sardinian oral tradition. Francesco is also a guitar teacher in the middle school and lives in Cagliari. 

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