Campo Di Marte - 1973 - Campo Di Marte

Campo Di Marte 

1973

Campo Di Marte

01. Primo Tempo (8:10)

02. Secundo Tempo (3:20)

03. Terzo Tempo (6:20)

04. Quarto Tempo (3:15)

05. Quinto Tempo (5:58)

06. Sesto Tempo (5:12)

07. Settimo Tempo (8:28)

The tracklist on the 2006 remaster was altered from the original LP and follows the sequence 5-6-7-1-2-3-4, and with new titles:

1. Prologo I

2. Prologo II

3. Prologo III

4. Riflessione I

5. Riflessione II

6. Epilogo I

7. Epilogo II

Enrico Rosa / electric & acoustic guitars, Mellotron, vocals

Alfredo Barducci / French horn, flute, piano, organ, clavioline, vocals

Paul Richard (aka Richard Ursillo) / bass, vocals

Carlo Felice Marcovecchio / drums, bongos, vocals

Mauro Sarti / drums, bongos, flute, vocals

The story of CAMPO DI MARTE (named after an area of Florence) is a familiar one in the annals of Italian progressive rock. Like many of their fellow countrymen they released one album and due to a lack of interest and record company promotion split up. In fact the band had already called it a day before the album was released. Nevertheless it remains an important release and well worth seeking out for anyone with more than a passing interest in the genre.

The band was formed in Florence in 1971 by ex-SENSO UNICO guitarist Enrico Rosa who also composed all the material. Drummer/flautist Mauro Sarti had previously played with Rosa in LA VERDE STAGIONE and the line-up was completed by American bassist Paul Richard (real name Richard Ursillo), on keyboards and French horn Alfredo Barducci and second drummer Carlo Felice Marcovecchio who had previously played with I CALIFFI. All band members are credited with vocals, though they only appear sporadically, the album being for the greater part instrumental.

Musically the band played classical influenced symphonic prog alternating with a heavy rock style. Fans of PFM should find much to their liking and parallels can be drawn with DE DE LIND on the heavier sections. A high standard of musicianship is present and the albums subject matter deals with the futility of war. Confusion may arise with the sequencing of the album. After completion their record company decided to swap side A and B around due to their feeling that what had been conceived as side B was the stronger of the two and more immediate. This understandably messed with the concept causing the original titles of the seven tracks to be changed to I Tempo through to VII Tempo. The current cd version sees the originally intended running order restored.

After the split Rosa formed a completely new version of CAMPO DI MARTE and recorded a second album. Unfortunately to this day it has never been released. Shortly after this he turned down an offer to join BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO and moved to Denmark where he's still a professional musician to this day. Richard, now reverting to his real name of Richard Ursillo moved onto a career with SENSATION'S FIX and Sarti joined BELLA BAND.

o Rosa was but 20 years young when he laid down this little opus. And as with so many other little known Italian albums from the classic years it is a gem waiting to be discovered. The composition was carefully arranged as a suite to tell a story about people living in peace (represented by the mellow pastoral sections) and the trauma that the violence of war inflicts on them (represented by the aggressive rock sections.) The record company, in their infinite wisdom, took the completed album from Rosa and proceeded to rearrange the order of his songs in the order they thought more saleable and even altered the titles. Thankfully the new Italian lp-sleeve reissue restores the original titles and sequence and is remastered by Rosa himself. The notes say it is essential to hear the album in the sequence that Rosa intended, that it works much better that way. That is the track order I will use for my review.

The album to me recalls De De Lind although I think that Campo di Marte is better album. The composition is stronger, the playing better, the instruments more varied. It's worth noting that Rosa was not much into progressive rock at the time, instead preferring jazz. Here is how Rosa described the music composition in a 2002 interview: "So I tried to use at best the french horn interplayed with the flute, creating a kind of rock music tied to a classical style, and showing the contrasts between the acoustic instruments and the rock band. So the music was all based on flute duets, counterpoints between flute, french horn and electric guitar, and that clean organ sound, almost church-style, played by Carlo/Alfredo in a very different way from the then popular Hammond sound. All with a solid background of single drums, double drums, drums and percussion, and an electric bass always played with a pick by Richard." [interview by Augusto Croce, November 2002, Italianprog.com]

He felt the rock on this album appropriate in the context of symbolizing the violent sections in the musical narrative but right after its release he would dissolve this line-up and attempt to do more experimental jazz. A second album with the new line-up was completed but never materialized. The record company rejected it feeling it not commercial enough, and Rosa said in the above interview that the master tape was lost.

The album opens so beautifully with gorgeous acoustic guitar and flute duets, before being joined by wordless vocals and then drums. Bass and piano come in and I just can't find the words to describe this.totally gorgeous stuff. In track 2 the electric guitar and organ kick in along with the French horns war cry for the first time. The drumming in this part begins to get more complex and more nice nuances reveal themselves with each play. The vocals are rather infrequent but when they do appear they are quite good. Tracks 3 and 4 contain some potent jamming with intermittent flute breaks and vocals. I should mention that this is one of the flute-lovers essential albums; it's all over the place. Track 5 is a shorter beauty with mostly acoustic, flute, and French horn until a nasty chord shatters the peace. Track 6, "Terzo Tempo" on the original vinyl release may be the most fully realized song with heavy drums and passages that sound like car chases with the players chasing each other. The guitar is too low in the mix here for my taste but it's a minor complaint. Track 7 begins with some nice organ joined by dissonant guitar before our album finishes with a fading acoustic guitar.