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Imani Washington
Ms. Paetz
Treble Ensemble
29 May 2019
Ma L’Amore No
I think it is of much importance to be a dreamer. To flirt with danger, daze off in class, think about how
wonderful life could be. Often I, Imani Washington, like to dream. I remember walking home and listening to
“Ma L’amore No” by Lina Termini and instantly felt as if I was in my kitchen with yellow walls and slow
dancing with my wife (her name is Sylvia in this dream but it could be anything). “Ma L’amore No” is the song
I am choosing to write my final paper on, as it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
Long after I first listened to Ma L’amore No, I watched La vie en rose in my AP French class, an
autobiography of the notorious French singer, Edith Piaf. I can say confidently that La vie en rose is one of the
best films I have ever watched, and definitely in my top three favorites. Edith Piaf made such wonderful music
and it amazes me that no matter what songs she sings, she always makes the melody a bit sad. Take “Millard”
for example. The tune is very upbeat and it seems to feature slapsticks and wooden tempo blocks, forcing me to
be reminded of “Sleigh Ride Together With You”, but the song takes a bit of a sad turn on the second and third
verses. This “sad” theme can be heard in almost all of her songs, which is slightly unfortunate because
everytime I listen to Edith, I almost always cry. But what does Edith have to do with Lina Termini, you might
ask. Well, Ma L’amore No reminds me so much of Piaf’s work, so much in fact I had to Google if Termini was
somehow influenced by Piaf. Now, according to my research, Piaf was born about two years before Termini, so
it would not surprise me if there was some influence involved. While Edith’s songs tend to make me more sad
and Ma L’amore makes me more happy, I believe that they both make me feel a sense of oldness, as if I were
born in their time. Both artists make music I enjoy, and even though Piaf’s make me sad, I can always sense a
little happy in the tunes.
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How does Ma L’amore sound? It starts off with a fluttery flute singing for about ten seconds. In my
opinion, this is one of the best parts of the song because it sounds so dainty and I often imagine the flute a small
child, so excited about their big number, starting the entire song off beautifully. Until the lyrics come, the piano
and the horn make lovely music together. This is the part that makes me start imagining my wife and I dancing
in our yellow wall kitchen. Eventually, Lina Termini comes in singing very delicate like. Being in choir for 4+
years, you can’t help but think about breath support in music, and BOY does Lina have it! I think of this
especially in the “Ahimè” lyric where the first phrase seems to end so perfectly and blends well with the next.
The song ends with a weirdly-artistic clash of at least two instruments with an old-timey grainy movie effect,
making me almost wish I was born in that time period.
I have taken French since seventh grade, and knowing I had to translate this ITALIAN song made me
slightly anxious, since I have absolutely no idea how the Italian language operates. Using my keen context
clues, it was obvious that this is was a love song, hence the L’amor. Thanks to Google, I found out that this
song is “I will always love you”, but the Italian version. In the song, Lina recognizes that her love could
possibly fall for someone else (Forse te ne andrai da altre donne le carezze cercherai) and tells him that if
he comes back, the beauty in her will fade (già sfiorita ogni bellezza troverai ). Nevertheless, Lina knows
that her love for him will never leave, for it will remain for him (finch'io vivo sarà vivo in me,
solo per te).
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