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Hybla act 1

by Randone

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1.
Preludio 02:27
Com’è viva questa terra nella notte forse ciò mi basterà, per sentire il vento guarda il fiore dell’inverno schiude al cielo tiepidi colori , voglio sentire il vento storia di miseria e nobiltà, tra le strade di città sento ancora quelle voci degli schiavi e dei padroni il tempo non cancellerà la loro religiosità che respira tra le mille chiese del paese
2.
3.
Ecco tra i vicoli della città Passa lo straniero a saccheggiar Popolo di razze miste fermo lì a guardar La tua bella terra che s’ha da conquistar Prendi le armi per la libertà contro questa gente che non sa sognar Non ti rassegnare orsù scegli di lottar Questa bella terra deve a noi restar
4.
La resa 01:06
Tace il sogno della libertà Vuote le strade Non ho niente da mangiare
5.
Le invasioni 01:23
Ucciderà, confischerà, sevizierà, deruberà, ricostruirà, distruggerà, combatterà, si arrenderà, prima romani e bizantini ancora barbari e saraceni cultura e morte musica e fame e coi Normanni un po’ di pace Svevi angioini Aragonesi Ma coi francesi Mora mora (muori muori) Mora mora Mora mora Mora mora
6.
Father Ruggero, my heart suffers with love Not for a king but a poor man from the city As with my gravestone A sacred convent I will build To quieten the anguish Of many deluded lover’s hearts
7.
Infuria la battaglia fuor dalle mura di città Scorre rosso sangue troppo odio e crudeltà Non è il momento di sperare La nostra sorte è soffocare Urla strazianti per la città Dove saranno i figli tuoi Presto il silenzio scenderà non scorderai che il tuo uomo è là face stained of color and life the wedding ring, a talisman of our love
8.
Enrico VI imperatore di Germania Violento nel fondo del cuore Forgiata nel ferro Con chiodi e martello Celebra il reame di Guglielmo CON UNA CORONA DI FERRO Con lunghi chiodi al capo incendiati Io godo della morte degli odiati Nemici attenzione Che sia da lezione Vi brucerò il cuore Sarà gran dolore Per chi attenta al sacro potere del re Odio per la nostra gente Sangue sparso per le strade
9.
10.
Lunghi e bianchi capelli Sul viso memoria di antica bellezza Stanco ma fiero lo sguardo Donava sorrisi alla gente di là Troppe le strade percorse In cerca di un uomo che parlasse al suo cuore Luce nei giorni più tristi Gioia di vivere insieme Tu chi sei bianca signora lo sguardo incantato Tu chi sei Statua di ghiaccio lacrime in viso Tu chi sei Al freddo cancello del nostro patrono Tu Ora dimmi chi sei Lei disdegno avea dell’oro di fasto e nobiltà Né al potere di una flotta mirava ad aspirar solo il cuore, la sua unica passione, volea rassicurar S’era illusa un giorno per un pescatore crudele Un pastore sardo la convinse infine che Quello che cercava era solo un dolce sogno E ad Ibla le sue lacrime si sparsero tutto intorno
11.
Fiero ed innamorato Della sua città Unite le due signorie Ad un’unica realtà Grande festa e giorni lieti Onore a Manfredi Sorride in te sorride dentro te Il viso calmo Sorride in te sorride dentro te L’aspetto fiero
12.
Armatevi chè In nome del re Il nostro conte Farà parlare di sé Chè libererà La nostra città Da quegli invasori Che tanto male ci fan Meschino Omodeo Venduto al nemico Non credere che Il conte abbia pena di te Seppure cristiano Per il suo sovrano questi angioini li farà fuggire lontano
13.
Tutta la terra, e l’ampio spazio Generano per te, o morte E d’improvviso c’hai rapito il bambino Fosse invecchiato non sarebbe stato ugualmente tuo
14.
Che ingiustizia Offesa gravissima Ventimiglia infame e vile Ti ucciderò e consegnerò La testa tua a Costanza Guarda che bel papa abbiamo Servo del potere sovrano Come hai potuto Concedere il ripudio Ad un vigliacco che presto perirà sotto di me
15.
Mangiatore di fuoco, cuore nobile il petto lacerato dal dolore dell’amore Di una zingara si innamorò perdutamente un amore che si prova nel cuore e nella mente Splendida la luna in una notte di sventura La loro unione consacrò alle scale di “Specula” il gelo avvolse quei due corpi sciagurati in un abbraccio eterno il loro amore consumò Amore infelicità Passione e bellezza Dietro il ticchettio dell’acqua Di una fontanella Amore infelicità Passione e bellezza Dietro il ticchettio dell’acqua A salita “Specula”
16.
17.
Oh how sweet it is to remember You like the fog that engulf’s me If your shadow sails amongst the hills I will be ready to retrieve (it) But there exists in the air, forbodings of calamity Maybe the time has arrived To commit myself for children Born alone without a father Neither a mother who loves than daddy Having nothing for themselves
18.
“Vinezia, l’armi santi fanu festa, c’addutastivu a tutti l’urfanieddi” “Comu t’arriducisti, Chiaramunti! Vasciu d’arreri, e iàutu davanti!” “Viola viulinu Cunsidera la nostra paisana! Lu Papa, ca la sciolsi di Riggina Ci rissi: figghia mia, fà la buttana! Gaze upon the ocean And absorb the perfume of life All of our possessions Are in the hands of foes and strangers.
19.
Rimpianti 01:40
Fieri signori ma sempre invasori Perché piango per loro adesso Perché soffro per loro adesso Perché questo buio nel cuore Se il mio sogno è migliore Dovrei farlo da me Certo che loro amavano Hybla e sognavano un mondo migliore per noi dove crescere in pace e serenità Ma adesso no, non si può più Loro non vivon più Non vivon più
20.
Pueblo Ibleo Olvida te que el vuestro conde es mejor que yo. en el testamento dispongo ahora que cuando me vaya volveré hacia ti tierra de sol tierra de amor hermoso condado me ilumina el alma
21.
Donne e bambini di qua Uomini forti di là Dai tutti insieme Colpiteli bene Non fatevi alcuna pietà Ahhh… quali colpe abbiamo Siamo uomini anche noi Siamo proprio come voi
22.
La caccia 04:39
Vuoi dialogar con me sono ebreo Sai molto tempo fa fui un uomo “Lu purtarru nti pilatu Comu ‘ncuccu spinnicciatu Catalobi a li Jurei: pietati domini, misereri mei” “l’hanno portato da Pilato Come un gufo spelacchiato Maledetti giudei Pietati domini, miserere mei”
23.
Com’è chiaro il cielo, libera il pensiero Folle fui, perciò abbracciai la religiosità Perso nel segreto che si cela su nel ciel - Io non sapevo che - Che cos’è? - Chiuso in codesta città - Tu vivrai - senza confronti con l’umanità - Hai già deciso che ti perderai Tra i segreti del cosmo, contro il tempo e mai stanco Vivo l’attimo in terra senza sguardi sul mondo chè la gente qui pace non ha Tra guerre ipocrisia e vanità Un nunzio il nuovo mondo accoglierà Sorrido d’amore.
24.
Il terremoto 02:49
25.

about

“Hybla” is still the album that, more than any other, has brought us to the attention of prog lovers. One day, while reading a book about the history of the old Ragusa (formerly Hybla) by the local historian Mimi Arezzo, I had the wish to release a suite on this subject, and so in just a month (a record for me) I composed the structure of the whole suite on my sequencer. The next month, Riccardo, Marco and Livio worked on their parts. “Hybla” was a difficult album to record and release, and not just because of music and vocal parts (it features as special guests Lautaro Acosta on violin, Graziano Ranieri on sax and Carmelo Corrado Caruso’s opearatic vocals), but for all the complex arrangements that, had it not been for the sound engineer Claudio Cattero’s help, would make it terribly boring. “Hybla” is so far the most popular Randone’s album, I think it’s our most mature work, one in which all the influences of the musicians converge in a decisive and convincing way.
The live version of “Hybla” came soon thanks to the little help we had from the then mayor of Ragusa Tonino Solarino. The stage was set up in the main square of old Ragusa (Ibla precisely) in front of the beautiful setting of the Cathedral of San Giorgio. The audience flocked, beyond all expectations, and we were lucky enough to have three cameras filming everything and Claudio Cattero at the sound bank. Unfortunately, the budget did not allow us to make an optimal recording even if I did my best both in terms of video editing / audio and DVD’s authoring. In the DVD there are also some special inserts, including the song “The Good” released on the second chapter of the Colossus Spaghetti Epic, plus rehearsal footage, recording sessions, some funny scenes, a photo gallery and much more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA4cTNmqS1o

credits

released April 5, 2005

THE BAND
Vocal, Keyboards and 12 string guitar: Nicola Randone
Electric Guitar: Marco Crispi
Bass Guitar: Livio Rabito
Drums: Riccardo Cascone

GUESTS
Beppe Crovella: Vintage keys
Carmelo Corrado Caruso: Operatic vocals
Bianca La Rosa: Female Vocals
MariaElena Infantino: Operatic Vocals
Lautaro Acosta: Violin

Lyrics and Music: Nicola Randone
Arrangments: Randone (Band)
Sound engineer: Claudio Cattero

Tracks 2-5
Hybla was founded about 3500 years ago. The name derives probably from Hibla, godness of love. Not accidentally, our ancestors were mishapprensive of war and dedicated themselves to the work on the fields. Different dominations influenced the town during many centuries. Above all, the Greeks, whose “chanting” way to speak is to find again in our pronunciation. From the Greeks we also inherited the abhorrence of crime and of gratuitous violence and the preference to act alone instead of joining with other people. The bad luck of ancient-days-Hybla was to be situated in a bloodwet land, just between Syracuse and Kamarina, two warmonger powers at the time of the Phoenician Wars. After the Greeks came the Romans, who made our country poor. Then the Byzantines, who were in eternal fight against Barbarians, Franks and Saracens. (One of the darkest periods in our history.) Fortunately, in 866, the Arabians came to Hybla and they brought prosperity. Though people were against these new invaders at first, it was the Arabians who let flourish trade, arts and education; not only in Hybla but on whole Sicily. Under the Normans the Island likely achieved its highest stage of development. The Normans loved our country like their own homeland... Seemingly the Hybleans did’t ever offer much opposition against the invadeers, and with the time our attitude didn’t become different. Only in 1282 broke out a revolt in Hybla against the French Angevins. This revolt is known as The Sicilian Vespers. At once a fearsome cry arose in the streets of our town: “Mora, mora” (“Death! Death!”).

Track 6 – The Queen of Cyprus
Going back at the turn of the First Millennium, there is an old legend that speaks about the Queen of Cyprus, who was very beautiful and very powerful. She fell in love and asked her father, Count Roger, for not got married to the king to whom she had been promised. Her pray was not heard, and so she let build a cloister in Hybla: St. Maria di Valverde. She entered this monastery and lived there until her death. She even wished that her remains were buried in the small churchyard beneath the monastery... Since then, it’s said that who has an unhappy lovestory should go into the Church of St. Thomas (built over the ruins of the small monastery church) if he/she wants to find relief for his/her woes – as if the gentle hand of a mother would caress the sorrowful heart.

Track 8-9 – Henry VI and the Iron Crown / Lyke-wake for Count Guglielmo
Henry VI of the Holy Roman Empire (November 1165 - September 28, 1197) was King of Germany 1190-1197, and Holy Roman Emperor 1191-1197. He was the son of Frederick I or Frederick Barbarossa and of Beatrice of Burgundy, Barbarossa’s second wife. Henry married Constance of Altavilla (or of Sicily) in 1185. Constance was the posthumous daughter of Roger II of Sicily by his third wife Beatrice of Rethel. Her elder nephew was William II, King of Sicily. As William II died in 1189, Henry VI claimed the thron of Sicily, Constance being in her own right the Queen, but most of the Sicilian nobles, lead by Tancred of Lecce, opposed to him. Henry, skilfully winning over Pisa, Genoa and the Roman Commune, isolated Tancred and intimidated Pope Celestine III, who, on April 14, 1191, crowned him emperor at Rome. During the crowning celebration Henry was insolent and rude: he didn’t get on the steps keeping the head low and didn’t kneel in front of the Pope as required by the tradition, he didn’t held the bridles of Celestine’s horse... His insolence went so far that he said to the Pope that he was the Emperor, not the equerry. Then he sat at the honour place and put the crown on his head with his own hands. After the crowning Henry headed for Southern Italy to unite Sicily, but the pest devastated his military strenght: because of the plague, his troops fell by the thousands. He decided to go back to Germany and put down in blood a feudal rebellion (1194). In the same year he headed again for Italy, overran Southern Italy and triumphantly entered Palermo. Sibilla, wife of the dead King Roger and who had took the regency for their young son William III, was forced to recognize Henry as the new king.
Henry VI was a ferocious and cruel man: he treated laymen and clericals as enemies, accusing them of conspiracy and torturing them barbarously. As for the royal family, Henry first sent little William to Germany, then he left imprison Sibilla and her daughters in Alsace. Also William’s uncle, Count Richard of Acerra, back from a crusade, was imprisoned.
A new revolt broke in 1196. Jordan, a noble man and presumably a friend of Constance, led the rebels. It was another bloodshed. Jordan was caught and a crown of nails was driven into his head. In 1197 took place another rebellion. This time Henry VI exceeded with his cruelty: he spread violence and death everywhere: ruthless and bloody suppressions, mass executions. His hangmen had a lot to do: hanging, setting fire, blinding...
During the siege of Castrogiovanni in the near of Messina, Henry died of intestinal infection. Maybe his wife Constance poisoned him.

Track 10 – The Sad Princess
A long-haired, white-haired woman leaned on the bannister at the feet of the majestic San Giorgio stairway. She was in Hybla since about a year. Nobody knew who she was, where she came from or how long she would stay. Someone had asked her out but she answered only with a smile. That smile! It exuded the warmth of summer or – according to the opinions of others – the coldness of the northern glaciers. Don Neli u quartararu, a man who had travelled a lot, sweared that she was positively the Baroness of Palermo – a woman whose husband had thrown her out of their mansion because she had smiled to a Garibaldian soldier with too much cheer, too much fire. Other persons affirmed that this woman was a Saracen mother: hundred years ago her only son had left for Sicily; she had waited till now before going in search for him... During an evening in December, the woman suddenly disappeared. Many years later a story-teller came to Hybla and he narrated the story of a princess: the King of England offered her the command over the seas but she declined; the same happened to the King of Spain, to whom she refused the American dominions and three caravels loaded with gold. The princess had only a wish: the love of a man. A fisherman from Ognina illuded her, but she left him when she saw him harpooning a dolphin; one day she met a Sardinian sheepman who loved his herd and sang to the moon, but he wasn’t interested in dance and poetry and so she was alone again. At the end she felt too tired to seek on, she stayed for a year in a hamlet on a hill. And there she freed her tears of sorrow.

Tracks 11,12,14,16,17,18
The Chiaramontes bound their destiny to the county for good 93 years, from 1300 to 1392. Theirs was a dynasty of generous and almost-to-rashness-bold men who loved our Hybla – except for a few of them. In the year 1300 Manfredi united the dominions of Modica and Ragusa into a single feudal realm. He was succeeded by Giovanni who, alas, could not attend to the interests of the county because he was too busy with revenge (he wanted to wash a heavy insult from the Earl of Ventimiglia). The fourther Earl was Simone who, poisoned by a quarrelling with the Alagona family, spent most of his time making war. His wife Venezia waited for him - in vain - all the best years of her life. Andrea, the last of the Chiaramontes, was the only Sicilian patriot who withstood the Spaniards, and he was condemned to death. Andrea’s head was put into an iron cage hanging from a facade of Palazzo Steri. The Palermitan people seemed to have forgotten that Andrea had regularly donated grain to them: they laughed about the fact that his head aroused in the heights while his body was entoumbed in the earth. The Ragusans bemoaned the end of the Chiaramontes. Infact, the Chiaramontes never oppressed the Ragusan people; on the contrary they loved them and had often given out much money to improve the semblance of the town.

Track 15 - Giovinastro and Lucsìa
One evening I was walking on the Specula ascent road in search of Gian Battista Odierna emotions (he had installad his astronomic telescope, or “specula”, on that just road for watching the skies. I tried to revive his enthusiasm, his cry of joy when he discovered a new astral object... but I could only hear a far, strange dripping coming from a fountain. Suddenly I remembered that many years ago, in the same place, Giovanni Occhipinti and Giuseppe Bonaviri had heard the same noise of dripping water: it was like if a mysterious presence wanted to materialize. Occhipinti sensed that it was the precence of Giovinastro and Lucsìa, two unlucky lovers of a folksy legend. The legend said that Giovinastro and Lucsìa put an end to their life in the Specula ascent road. The small fountain with its strange waterdripping had instantly brought to my mind the scene of that unhappy love, a love so strong and so aching beautiful.

Track 13 – An Afflicted Parent
The lyrics of this song derive from the epigraph carved on the tombstone of a child’s grave. It’s called Epigraph of Aithales. This inscription represents one of the sweetest externalizations of mourn of the Ancient World. We find here the obedience to God’s Will but no real resignation. The stone has transported the feelings of that afflicted parent to us through thousands of years and we feel the deep pain of this mourning person very near to us. Because of such witnesses of timeless humanity we love our land - this land of endless suffering and unlimited love.

Track 20 - Bernardo Cabrera
The Chiaramonte family was succeeded in the County of Modica by another noble House: the Cabreras. The founder of the House of Cabrera was Bernardo, more famous for his glorious war deeds than for the high dignities he was invested with. Bernardo’s name is written in the history books because of his ambitious dream to become King of Sicily. He married the fair Bianca of Navarra, the widow of King Martin I.

Tracks 21,22 – Conspiration Against the Jews / The Hunt
In the year 1474 Modica was the place of a horrible massacre born out of racist hatred. 360 human beings, children and adults, young and old, men and women, with the only sin to be Jews, were terribly murdered.

Track 23 - Gian Battista Odierna
He was born in Hybla, near the Church of Purgatorio. Strolling down through the small Fiumicello Valley it’s still possible today to visit the ruins of the ancient Church of Spirito Santo, which crashed about the end of last century. Behind those ruins, proceeding toward the side of the mountain, we meet the remaining stones of a small house, where – it’s said – G.B. Odierna first saw the light of the world. He was still very young in 1618 as he asked, and got, permission to live on in a cubicle into the campanile of the San Nicolò Church (now San Giorgio Church) and to install in the small cupule his optical instrument to watch the skies. On 12th December of the same year Odierna discovered three new comets, whose course was also followed by the greatest astronomers of that time. In 1622 he became priest. His interests in the most various subjects are attested by his writings in Latin and Italian. He wrote about the stars, the flowers, honey and bees, the eyes of the flies, the ants’ antennas, the clouds. He is also the author of an astrological calendar; apparently he foresaw the earthquake calamity of 1693. Gian Battista Odierna died in Palma in 1660.

Track 24 – The Earthquake
The evening of Juanuary 9th, 1693, whlile the houses switched off the lights one after one before the well-deserved sleep, an exceeding noise, and a rumble of thunder from afar, advanced with unprecedented power. Crazy with fear, the thousands of inhabitants of Hybla run in the streets; they spent the night outside although it was cold. Finally, as God designed, the sun rose. The Hybleans had felt terrible fear but nobody has been seriously harmed. Little by little the town limped back to normality. About five o’clock in the evening of Sunday, Juanuary 11th, people strolled on the promenade talking about the great fright they had had. The air was mysteriously motionless, hounds barked, the sky was dramatically dark, but noone seemed to notice it. On the contrary: they talked, laughing at each other, and praised the Lord. Suddenly the earth trembled again, with a longer and more fierce jerkinesses this time. After the eartquake there were 5000 people dead, that is the half of the population. The wonderful Middle-Age town of Hybla, with its 28 churches, 22 nobiliary palaces, and the towering huge castle, did exist no more.

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Randone Ragusa, Italy

Randone is a progressive rock band that comes from Sicily.
At present, the band is formed by: Nicola Randone (Lead Vocals, acoustic guitar and keys), Marco Crispi (el. guitar), Maria Modica (vocals), Livio Rabito (bass and vocals), Riccardo Cascone (drums) and has signed with Electromantic Music by Beppe Crovella ... more

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