Giulio Rapetti Mogol
IULM University has conferred the Honorary Master's Degree in Music Publishing and Production on Giulio Rapetti Mogol, the best-known and most influential author in the history of Italian song.
The Rector of the University, Professor Gianni Canova, read the motivation for conferring the honorary degree: "Giulio Rapetti Mogol belongs to the restricted and particularly significant group of major European songwriters who, in the course of an entire existence dedicated to this form so typical of contemporary music, have often been able to cross the border between song and poetry for music. Song-form and poetry for music are in fact similar and adjoining genres, but the contribution to song made by Mogol since 1960 soon transcended the commercial and industrial limits of the first genre, to draw, with a long series of titles of great impact and success written for famous performers, including Mina, Adriano Celentano, Bobby Solo, Fausto Leali, or, again, in tandem with the singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti, from the ranks of poetry for music. Tracks such as Una lacrima sul viso, Emozioni, I giardini di marzo, Acqua azzurra, acqua chiara, Fiori rosa, fiori di pesco, Canzoni stonate in fact represent, in their simple and moving evocative power, in their verses so effectively imaginative and visionary, a great contribution to the so-called urban popular music and to the sound identity of our country."
During the Laudatio, Professor Stefano Lombardi Vallauri, musicologist and professor of Music Criticism and Music and Discography at IULM, explained that "The author of song lyrics such as Giulio Rapetti Mogol performs a specific work, not traceable to that of anyone else. The work - the art - of the song lyrics author consists in writing lyrics for music and in this it is similar to the art of the librettist in opera theater, with the difference that the librettist writes words that later the composer sets to music, while the song lyrics author writes words over music already composed by the musical author. Moreover," Professor Lombardi Vallauri continued, "the art of the songwriter consists in writing lyrics for music, but not only that: they are words for music but also words for a vocal conduct, for a precise singer who sings in that song in a precise way. Vocal conduct is one with music and language, but it is also something that, on the theoretical and analytical level should be considered in its own right."
Mogol's Lectio was highly original as he staged part of the show he is taking on tour around the world, Pensieri e parole, together with Giuseppe Barbera (piano and vocals) and Massimo Satta on guitar: some of the most famous songs of the Mogol-Battisti duo were performed, including Un'avventura, I giardini di marzo, Il mio canto libero, Io vorrei non vorrei, Con il nastro rosa, La canzone del sole. During the concert-talk, which lasted over forty minutes, Mogol at the end of each song told the genesis and anecdotes related to each song. In addition, Mogol recalled that he once asked the SIAE how many records he had sold, "They told me 523 million. Do you know what that means? That I am third in the world, after the Beatles and Elvis Presley."
"The awarding of the Master's degree ad Honorem in Publishing and Music Production to Giulio Rapetti Mogol is a recognition of the cultural value that the author has brought to our music and our collective identity," said Lombardy Region's Councillor for Culture Francesca Caruso. "His career, marked by a vast and extraordinary production, has contributed both to the success of Italian song in the world and has been able to transform the song-form into a true poetry for music. We are proud, as Regione Lombardia, to celebrate his art and his contribution to contemporary culture."