Il Sacro Monte di Varallo

The "Sacred mountains" (called "Calvaries" in english) are various groups of religious buildings, situated usually in high places, far from abitations and surrounded by nature.

They contain life-size statues in chapels painted so as to resemble various places from the Bible or the lives of saints and are usually the destination of many local pilgrimages.

The city of Varallo is near the first Sacro Monte ever built in northern Italy, around the end of the XVth century; it contains a sanctuary and 45 chapels with life size statues, some put along a trail in the wood and the other disposed as the buildings of a "small Jerusalem", depicting various moments from Jesus' life.

This piece recalls a scene that has shurely happened many times in the past: a group of pilgrims is walking the path to the sanctuary, passing through the natural sounds of nature.

Someone is intoning an hymn, while some children in the back are just enjoing the trip in the forest and singing a folk song.

The first bell of the church is heard, silencing the group and telling them that the end of the journey is near. The group is happy to be finally arrived and carries on repeating the hymn, while the other bells signal the beginning of the Mass.

The pilgrims finally enter the church with a last Gregorian chant and outside in the woods the birds keep singing, responding to the last chimes of the belltower.

This Fantasy is simple in structure, with just some extended technique to help diversify the flux of sound, acting as a link between all the different images and voices of the piece.

A simple, nice piece for the wonders of a simple, pleasant pilgrimage through the woods.