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Roma, 22​.​IX​.​1928

from Marta Mia .​.​. Luigi Pirandello (2018) by Thomas Oboe Lee

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lyrics

Ormai s'è capita la tattica. Appena qualcuno accenna a conquistarsi una posizione preminente in qualsiasi campo, per quanto sappia guardarsi e difendersi, andar cauto, con l'occhio a tutto, pronto a parare insidie e a sventar trame, si fa in modo che cominci lui stesso a sentirsi esposto e isolato e a provar disagio per ogni gesto che faccia, per ogni passo che muova, e si obbliga così a rientrare, disaiutato, tra le file; per qualche altro cominciano subito le mormorazioni, le accuse vaghe o anche le polemiche aperte, suscitate a tempo, troncate a tempo e poi riprese; e per un terzo che già si vanti d’esser sicuro del suo ascendente e d’un potere ammesso e riconosciuto, ecco subito una smentita in pieno, uno scacco reciso che lo mette a terra nel più goffo atteggiamento; e così via. Ciò che si vuole è che nessuno predomini, nessuno alzi la testa. Attorno a Lui, un livello di teste che gli arrivino appena al ginocchio e non un dito più su. Tutto, così, resta in basso, per forza, e confuso; e non c’è altro veramente che bassezza e confusione.

...

By now the tactics are clear. As soon as someone gives a sign of achieving a pre-eminent position in any field—-however diligently he might watch out and defend himself, being careful, with an eye on everything, ready to avoid traps and to foil plots—-things start to happen in such a way that he himself will start to feel uncomfortable at any moves he makes, at any step he takes, and he is thus obliged—-being deprived of any support—-to get back in line. For someone else, disparagements, vague accusations, or even open polemics immediately begin—-starting , stopping, and starting all over again. For a third person, who already boasts of being sure of his influence and of having an acknowledged and recognized power, there is suddenly a flat denial, a definite setback that knocks him down into a most embarrassing position, and so on. The purpose of this all is to make sure that nobody gets his head up. Around Him***, a level of heads reaching only to his knee and not an inch higher. This way everything remains forcibly low and confused, and there is really nothing left but mediocrity and confusion.

***Mussolini

credits

from Marta Mia .​.​. Luigi Pirandello (2018), released December 14, 2018

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Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

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