Farewell Hymn

Inno del congedo is a short piece by Marco Andrioletti and Gianfranco Montalto of only 29 bars with an alternation of phrases, not always regular, emotionally inspired by national themes and anthems. The melodic idea was born on the spur of the moment after a friendly but inspiring request to write a hymn to celebrate Gianfranco Montalto's discharge from the civil service, tenor of the L'Una e Cinque formation. Initially conceived as a melody accompanied by a text bordering on the goliardic and nostalgic, it was later appreciated by some members of the group and it was decided to make it a polyphonic piece to be performed for a cappella voices to close the concerts of the vocal ensemble. Since the piece was conceived for instruments, it was decided to add a scat, thus omitting the initially drafted text. "Inno del Congedo" was one of the songs in the setlist when Giorgio Celestre was the bass voice in L'Una e Cinque; after his death in 2009, the song was included in the latest edition of the album "The Renaissance Project" (PL 6610), dedicated to his memory. The polyphonic adaptation for soprano, contralto, tenor and bass has some moments, especially in the final bars, where the contralto part is doubled to enhance the harmonic impact of the concluding section. The introductory bars begin with two measures in which the soprano and contralto voices enter in unison (to be intoned with particular care), dictated by the instrumental nature of the motif, where in just a few seconds we pass from a low register, especially for the soprano, to a medium texture, which can prove challenging for the contralto. Once these initial 'obstacles' have been overcome, the continuation of the piece presents no difficulties whatsoever and the simple and intuitive melodic design transparently suggests the expressive requirements. Although conceived as a hymn, the performance never has to reach extreme peaks in either the dynamic or agogic choices. The central part, nostalgic and melancholic, can be considered the heart of the piece, its most intimate meaning, which is nevertheless demurely and quickly abandoned for a faux-solemn finale with the deliberately forced addition of a dotted quaver and semiquaver march rhythm.