Il Silenzio

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Il Silenzio (“The Silence”) is the title of an instrumental hit by trumpeter Nini Rosso from 1965, which is one of the world's best-selling instrumental recordings.

History of origin

Nini Rosso was one of the best jazz trumpeters in Italy who celebrated his greatest success with an instrumental ballad : Il Silenzio is a variation of the military trumpet piece The Last Post (see: Taps ). This was composed in July 1862 by Union General Daniel Adams Butterfield and used by his rod trumpeter Oliver Willcox Norton as a signal to rest at night. By the time it was created, the copyright had already expired in 1965 (" public domain "), so that it was free for editing . Orchestra conductors Willy Guglielmo Brezza and Nini Rosso are named as arrangers, who slightly modified the original as a variation .

origin

The melody enjoys a high degree of international recognition because it is played every day at 5 p.m. on every military base in the USA. This also applies worldwide, as Taps or Last Post are played on military tattoo or funeral occasions. The word taps is closely related to tattoo , which was borrowed from the Dutch word taptoe . That in turn comes from the Dutch phrase “Doe den tap toe”, “turn off the tap”. The Dutch tapping hall , which is now used for memorial days , is not the same tune as Last Post . Neither Last Post nor Taptoesignaal should be confused with “Taps”, which has the same function but is a different melody and has a different origin.

Publication and Success

Nini Rosso - Il Silenzio (Farewell Melody)

The trumpet solo with chorus and spoken text was first released in Italy on the Sprint record label (A # 5550) in December 1964. The single sold over 750,000 copies in Italy and was first on the Italian charts for six weeks from May 1965 . In May 1965, Hansa decided to bring the recording to the German market as Il Silenzio (Farewell Melody) (# 18 316). Here the success was even greater, she was number one in the single charts for three and a half months (from July 1 to October 14, 1965) . The single sold over two million times in Germany, for which Rosso received a platinum record from his music label. Overall, the single stayed in Germany for seven months in the top 10 and nine and a half months in the charts. The top was also reached in Austria , Switzerland and Australia . An estimated five million records were sold worldwide up to December 1967, and today a total of ten million records is assumed.

Speech text

Il Silenzio is an instrumental recording, but the middle section, which is otherwise used in vocal recordings for instrumental parts, is used here for a short spoken text that Nini Rosso took over.

    Buona notte, amore Good night, darling
Ti vedrò nei miei sogni I see you in my dreams
Buona notte a te che sei lontana     Good night to you who are so far away

Il Silenzio begins with the short, modified trumpet sequence Taps , which is usually played at funerals. It can therefore be assumed that the separation referred to in the short spoken text relates to the death of the loved one.

Cover versions

Despite its enormous popularity, the melody was only covered ten times. Dalida took over the title in December 1965 (in German farewell melody , also in French and Italian), Roy Black in September 1974, Stefan Mross on the album Mein Wunschkonzert (February 2000). The South Tyrolean tenor Rudy Giovannini recorded both a German and an Italian version for his album The Most Beautiful Songs from the South (June 2011).

On February 21, 1969, the western of the same name, The Great Silence - Il Grande Silenzio (German title: Corpses pave his way ) came out in Germany, but has nothing to do with the piece of music.

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ Joseph Murrells: The Book of Golden Discs: The Records That Sold a Million . 2nd Edition. Limp Edition, London 1978, ISBN 0-214-20512-6 , pp. 195-196 .
  2. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 446 .
  3. ↑ Il Silenzio (Farewell Melody) by Nini Rosso. chartsurfer.de, accessed on October 6, 2019 .
  4. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 213

Web links