Cent’anni finds its roots in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 film The Godfather, which tells the odyssey of an Italian-American family in the United States. Speaking little Italian, the director transformed the expression “Cento qui questi giorni” (“May you have one hundred days as happy as this one”), traditionally exchanged in Italy on birthdays, into “Cent’anni.” Unexpectedly, it was this second phrase that took hold among the Italian-American diaspora, both in cinema and within organized crime.
Having grown up myself within the Italian community in France, immersed from childhood in an artistic yet somewhat criminal milieu—uncles and cousins not unlike those portrayed in The Godfather—I wished, in my own way, to revisit this curious space between roots, imagination, tragedy, and family.
1. Cent’anni
The first movement is conceived as a theme and variations. It layers three melodic lines revolving around a major–minor ambiguity, evoking the Eastern melismas buried deep within every Mediterranean lament. After the presentation of the theme in its three incarnations, the variations lead the mandolin into an uncommon display of virtuosity, culminating in the final accelerando.
2. Lacrimae
A very slow unfolding of two themes winding around themselves, Lacrimae evokes the idea of an abyssal fall that never comes to an end. Entirely chromatic, stretching the boundaries of the lament to the furthest reaches of its possibilities, it grants the mandolin the power of a violin and the grace of a lyrical voice.
3. Ritmico
Jazzy and structured in alternating scenes, much like an action film, Ritmico propels the mandolin and its accompanying guests at the speed of Steve McQueen in Bullitt. This is an explicit reference to the commissioner of the work, the extraordinary Vincent Beer-Demander, and to his connection with Lalo Schifrin.
The complete work lasts approximately 18 minutes.
