Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1934


Oh mia bela Madunina

Buy Oh mia bela Madunina now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




"'Oh mia bla Madunina'" (Classical Milanese orthography: ' ; "Oh my beautiful little Madonna" in Milanese) is a song by Giovanni D'Anzi which is an unofficial city anthem of Milan. The title refers to the golden statue of the Virgin Mary on the spire of Milan Cathedral visible all over the city, namely the Madonnina ('Madunina' in the Milanese dialect).

The song was written and composed in 1934 by the Milan songwriter Giovanni D'Anzi (19061974). In the 1930s, many immigrants from the Mezzogiorno, especially from the region of Naples, came to Milan bringing with them their famous Neapolitan songs such as "O sole mio". D'Anzi thus decided to create a musical answer from Milan. The song became a hit in the city almost immediately, and in 1938 it topped the Italian hit parade.

Musically, "Oh mia bela Madunina" has similarities to American ballads of the time. The lyrics give some praise to Neapolitan music but add that Milan also deserves a mention; they address the Madonna under whose domination Milan is vibrant with life and always busy. The lyrics end with an offer to shake hands because it is a small world, after all, but the closing verse 'ma Milan, l' on gran Milan!' ("but Milan is a great Milan!") reaffirms the Milanese pride. It is often sung by AC Milan and Inter Milan fans during the matches, in particular during the 'Derby della Madonnina'.

References



Sources



* Giovanni D'Anzi, 'Le canzoni milanesi', Curci, Milano 1961

Category:1934 songs

Category:Culture in Milan

Category:Italian songs

Category:Lombard language

Buy Oh mia bela Madunina now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1934



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1066406557.