Tuesday 9 February 1971

ARMANDO TROVAJOLI

Born: September 2nd, 1917, Rome (Italy)
Died: February 28th, 2013, Rome (Italy)
Nationality: Italian

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview


BIOGRAPHY

Armando Trovajoli studied piano and composition at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. In the 1930s, he was a pianist in the orchestras of Rocco Grasso and Sesto Carlini, the latter one being one of Italy’s most important jazz musicians of that epoch. After the war, Trovajoli was a member of the Italian team competing in the 1949 Festival de Jazz in Paris.

In the 1950s, Trovajoli became one of the most sought-after musical directors in the Italian recording business. He recorded a series of albums with instrumental versions of well-known songs under the title ‘Musica per i vostri sogni’. Moreover, he composed some hit records for other artists (‘È l’alba’, ‘Dimmi un po’ Sinatra’, etc.) and wrote a couple of musicals (e.g. Rugantino, Aggiungi un posto a tavola, and Ciao Rudy). He worked as a composer and conductor on the soundtracks of over 200 movies, initially mainly in the ‘commedia all’italiana’ genre, but later for serious films by directors Vittorio De Sica (La ciocara, Boccaccio 70, Ieri, oggi e domani) and Ettora Scola (Brutti, sporchi e cattivi) as well. As a classical composer, he wrote the ‘Sconcerto’, a suite for double-bass and orchestra.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

In 1953 and 1957, Armando Trovajoli shared the musical directorship of the San Remo Festival with Cinico Angelini; each of them conducted half of the entries. In 1957, he was sent along as a conductor with San Remo winner Nunzio Gallo to Frankfurt, West Germany, to represent Italy in the second Eurovision Song Contest. Gallo’s song ‘Corde della mia chitarra’ is over five minutes long, making it the longest ever entry in the history of the contest. It came a meagre sixth, far behind winner Corry Brokken from the Netherlands.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

Country – Italy
Song title – "Corde della mia chitarra"
Rendition – Nunzio Gallo 
Lyrics – Giuseppe Fiorelli / Alberto Cavaliere
Composition – Mario Ruccione
Studio arrangement – Enzo Ceragioli
Live orchestration – Armando Trovajoli
Conductor – Armando Trovajoli
Score – 6th place (7 votes)

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