Italian singer and musician Giovanna Marini died Wednesday in Rome at the age of 87 following a short illness. Since the 1960s, the artist had also become famous for her research work on Italian popular music.
Born in the Eternal City on January 19, 1937 into a family of musicians, Giovanna Marini dedicated a large part of her life to collecting and researching the folk music of her country. An interest in music and traditional singing sparked by his meeting with the poet and playwright Pier Pasolini, who one day told him that “songs are not found in books”.
While participating in her own shows, as a performer and composer, Giovanna Marini will therefore travel the country to collect a gigantic mass of popular songs in the Italian language and in different dialects. In 1974, the Popular School of Music in Rome entrusted her with the chair of applied ethnomusicology, thus underlining the extreme importance of Giovanna Marini as a researcher in this field.
Several times in representation in Switzerland
In addition to its heritage aspect, Giovanna Marini’s work will also be very political, reflecting her commitment to the social and political issues of her time. She will often use her music as a means of awareness and protest, addressing themes such as social injustice, workers’ rights, and the fight for freedom and justice.
Giovanna Marini was also very well known to the French-speaking Swiss public. She notably gave numerous recitals at the Théâtre de Vidy, in Geneva and in Neuchâtel.
>> Listen again to the interview Giovanna Marini gave to RTS in 2012:
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