una mattina
Preparations
Una Mattina is a piano piece composed by the Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi. Einaudi was born in Turin at the 23rd of November 1955. He trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, where he got his certificate as composer in 1982. Einaudi composed Una Mattina in 2004. The album is called Una Mattina as well and the style is classical music, or more specific, minimal music. Einaudi’s other albums are La Scala Concert (2004) and Diario Mali (2006).Una Mattina is also a famous soundtrack of the film Intouchables, which is inspired by a true story about a paralysed man and his caretaker. ¹
First impressions
The first time I listened to Una Mattina was in the cinema while watching Intouchables with my family. I immediately thought it was beautiful, I really like piano music most of the times. It is a perfect soundtrack for a movie, because it has much repetition and it does not take all the attention.
The words that came into my mind are: piano, melody (the melody stayed in my mind after hearing it), repetition, harmony, relaxing, happy, sad and fitting (the music fits exactly with the film Intouchables and the scene during which it was played).
Description
The intro of Una Mattina is very calm, contains much repetition and sounds quite easy. It is also slow and more gently played. When the main piece starts the music gets more complex, so it sounds more difficult and you hear more tones at the same time. The volume is louder and the pace is faster. After the main piece the music slows down and you will hear a part which is similar to the introduction, however it’s not exactly the same. There are more higher pitches and there is more variety. At the end it slows down a little and then you will hear the main part again. After the main part for the second time you will hear the part similar to the introduction again, and after this part the music pauses for a few seconds and then there comes a new part which contains more higher pitches and is a little faster. After this new part you hear another new part with many chords. The music goes on for another few minutes, however it’s too much to describe it all.
Analysis
Una Mattina contains a lot of repetition, which is in most of Einaudi’s music, and typical for the minimal music style. Einaudi creates variety by composing different parts and switching between these and repeating them. He introduces new parts during the piece as well, which are quite similar but contain small differences. I can clearly identify the sections of the song, like the introduction and the main part. I don’t think there is a lot of tension in this piece because it is quite calm. Harmony is present in this piece, especially during the main part. Einaudi does not really try to catch the listener’s attention, or at least I don’t hear so. This piece is used as a soundtrack in the film Intouchables so it does not catch all your attention, but it is present when you watch the film. The tonality is A Minor.
Interpretation
After a few times listening to Una Mattina I still think the same about my first impressions. When I went out of the cinema, I couldn’t stop thinking about this piano music. I have been playing the piano since I was seven years old, and after I watched Intouchables at the age of thirteen, I really hoped I would once be able to play this piece. Now I can play it on the piano and every time I do so, I am impressed by the way Ludovico Einaudi wrote this in such a perfect way.
Gathering Background Information
Ludovico Einaudi describes the album Una Mattina as: “If someone asked me about this album, I would say it is a collection of songs linked together by a story. But unlike my other albums, it doesn’t belong to a time in the past. It speaks about me now, my life, the things around me. My piano, which I have nicknamed Tagore, my children Jessica and Leo, the orange kilim carpet that brightens up the living room, the clouds sailing slowly across the sky, the sunlight coming through the window, the music I listen to, the books I read and those I don’t read, my memories, my friends and the people I love.” ²
From Einaudi’s album La Scala Concert I really like the pieces In un’altra vita and Bella Notte. Einaudi’s other album Diario Mali I don’t like as much as the other two. It is together with musician Ballaké Sissoko who plays on a kora. The style is totally different from the other two albums. It seems happier and it contains more short tones. Examples from minimal music written by other composers I really like are The Heart Asks Pleasure First from Michael Nyman (from the film The Piano) and Comptine d’Un Autre Été from Yann Tiersen (from the film Amélie). I learned to play both pieces on the piano as well.
Informed judgment
Una Mattina has a beautiful melody, and it makes use of repetition. All the tones were in harmony and the music fits with the film. I like piano music a lot, and especially this piece. It is played using softer and louder tones and the music slows down between the different parts which makes it even more beautiful. The scene in Intouchables in which Una Mattina is played really fits with the music, the dynamics of the music support what happens. The scene has an emotional side, which includes both happiness and sadness, this was my first impression with the music as well.
Sources
¹ = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_Einaudi
² = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Una_Mattina