La porta chiusa (Le Orme, 1972)

"La porta chiusa" is one of my favourite tracks by Le Orme and comes from their album "Uomo di pezza". After a keyboard-driven intro, a delicate verse gives the perfect "Orme touch" to the song, while the instrumental interplays involving bass guitar, drums and keyboards (mainly Hammond) remind me of this Italian band's main source of inspiration, that's to say ELP.

Ciao 2001, the most influential Italian rock magazine

during the '70s, featuring Le Orme circa 1974.

But of course Le Orme have their own style and even the most devilish progression must come back to a plain and dreamy melody, so that after some minutes of up tempo symphonic prog, here you are a first mellow break, then even a Church organ version of the main theme. Diversified and pleasant, sweet and unpredictable, this song goes on up to the end lining up powerful trio quasi-improvised storms and placid, nocturnal sketches. That's Le Orme, folks!

El gran senser (Le Orme, 1979)

Here is the closing instrumental track of Le Orme's acoustic album called "Florian". As the entire LP, this track only includes instruments from the classical tradition, closer to the Chamber Orchestra mood than to the symphonic heritage. I like this delicate and well structured composition and especially the rythmic work in it, based on marimba, vibraphone, cymbals and double bass.

The album was named after the beautiful Caffè Florian in Venice.

The long atmospheric section also reminds me of early King Crimson, while the main theme has a special, almost military cadence, a pleasant contrast to the fairy and vaguely Eastern sounds of this song. Last but not least, "El gran senser" is a fully progressive song, despite the unusual choice of instruments and maybe thanks to its Venitian and out of time atmosphere.

Immensa distesa (Le Orme, 1975)

This sweet, dreamy ballad taken by their "Smogmagica" album is unlikely to be the proggest song by Le Orme, but surely is one of their best melodies... and that's saying something! Not only the sung theme is well written, but the arrangement is simply perfect with a pinch of West Coast and Italian mandolin inside.

Le Orme in L.A. recording "Smogmagica".

The vocal performance is like silk, the keyboards and the guitar are suspended in a misty and mysterious sunset, a warm and golden soundscape, full of nostalgy and sweetness. Michi Dei Rossi's drumming is a pulsing whisper, and the lyrics are also very good, dealing with the eternal search for balance in human life. When I need a rest, "Immensa distesa" is exactly what I need.

Piccola rapsodia dell'ape (Le Orme, 1980)

This is the title track of Le Orme's acoustic perdiod second and last album. It's a rich and diversified instrumental, mostly influenced by baroque music, in its most sparkling and gentle wing. How effective the vibraphone is in this song! It seems to me like bluebells chatting in time with the piano. And the string instruments - violin and cello - come in to complete this stunning musical description of a bee's flight, as the song title means "A Bee's Little Rhapsody".

 

This was Le Orme's eleventh studio album.

If the rest of the album isn't always as good as the previous ones, this track really is a little, bright gem, both unpredictable and enthralling, dancing on the borderland between prog, experimental and classical music. A long and scarcely interesting pop hiatus was on its way, but this music still had all the best Le Orme's charms.

Il fiume - Parte prima (Le Orme, 1990)

When Le Orme came back in 1996 with a new album after a rather long hiatus, just a few prog lovers expected something good by them. And they had some reasons to be suspicious, having endured many arguable artistic choices from the band during the '80s and the early '90s. But "Il fiume" actually proved to be one of the best Le Orme's works, a concept about Eastern religions and philosophies, centred on the sacredness of rivers. The track I'm introducing here is the leading one, full of progressive fire and ethnic flavours.

With this album Le Orme definitely came back to their prog roots.

The main theme is really good and the double keyboard work is simply stunning. Another strong point of "Il fiume - Parte prima" ("The River"- Part One, in English) is Michi Dei Rossi's eclectic drumming, much more mature than previously, IMHO. I like the wole album very much, and such an intro immediately gives a hieratic and flowing pace to the entire work. A treat, I guarantee.

Verità nascoste (Le Orme, 1976)

One of the most delicate and beautiful prog ballads ever, IMHO. Its classical accents, its acoustic arrangement and especially its sweet melody are simply heatbreaking. Le Orme's discography surely includes many other and more adventurous tracks, but I'll always like this simple song and also the way the band suggests an old, almost fairy world. The lyrics add some more magic to this track: the singer tries to renew his love story, to relive the emotions he proved, even if time changes everything.

"Verità nascoste" was the 8th Le Orme's studio album.

The instrumental sections are committed to a little string orchestra and this choice improves the natural grace of "Verità nascoste" (that's "Hidden Truths" in English or also "Secret Truths", the title the band gave to the never released English version of the track and its album), and also anticipates the "chamber music" period of Le Orme between 1979 and 1980.

Regina al Troubadour (Le Orme, 1976)

Le Orme wrote several song about the so-called Flower Power era and this one, taken from "Verità Nascoste", was also a successful single in the Italian charts. Mixing gypsy habits, Hippy Nation and a vague social engagement, this very original song is about a girl who decided to quit her wealthy family to join a nomadic group.

The single cover featured the handwritten lyrics of the song.

That said, the main interest of "Regina al Troubadour" dwells in its music and in its strange musical architecture. The delicate sung line aternates with a series of instrumental interludes representing many faces of the '70s music scene: prog, pop, folk, funky, classical revival, space... they're all there, like in a colourful exhibition. And the Troubadours' Queen still smiles with her robes and her rings, the icon of an era.

Contrappunti (Le Orme, 1974)

Another one of the finest moments of the wide Italian '70s progressive rock movement. This instrumental title track of Le Orme's album of 1974 is simply stunning for its complex architecture and its energy. "Contrappunti" is based on the fruitful collaboration between the band and the classical trained and well known musician and composer Gian Piero Reverberi, credited as a proper member of the band.

Contrappunti featured one of the simplest cover arts of its times.

In this track, Reverbery plays the piano showing all his technical skills and providing the basic compositional idea, that's to say the counterpoint technique. This is the presence in a musical composition of two different but stricly intetwined melodic lines. The final result is a classically inspired and powerful track, where piano, keys and bass guitar drive a series of changing and unpredictable variations of the two main themes. Calm and rythmatic moments create an enthralling masterpiece still original and strong today.

Amico di ieri (Le Orme, 1975)

Oh, how I like this little, simple song! Le Orme released it in 1975, in an album called "Smogmagica" and also as a 7" single. The western american hints, blended with a nostalgic european sound, come from the sessions of "Smogmagica", recorded in Los Angeles and reminiscent of the West Coast musical atmosphere.

The original 7" cover of "Amico di ieri", b/w "Ora o mai più".

Please note the announcement in the round arrow: "recorded in Los Angeles".

Even the lyrics merge ecological contents and western images, such as covered wagons and dust storms. This ballad is calm and evocative, sweet and sad, reflecting the light of a distant sunset and carrying the wind of an ancient evening. The excellent melody of "Amico di ieri" will always be a significant part of my inner world, a bright souvenir of my youth.

Florian (Le Orme, 1979)

When Le Orme released the album "Florian", icluding this instrumental title track, their fandom had mixed feelings. A Whole LP performed only with acoustic (and classical) instruments proved to be a challenging experience for both the band and the listeners. Those who survived (I was one of them), however, were fascinated by those gentle and out of time sounds and found out this was exactly the usual Le Orme's music but with a somewhat different approach. "Florian" - titled from a famous Venitian coffee house - was by far my favourite song.

A sensitive cover art for this delightful album.

I specially appreciate there the sensitive weavings involving such instruments as violin, xylophone, piano, double bass or mandola. All is vague and lovely like in an ancient watercolor landscape. The band subsequently abandoned this style and many are those who didn't regret this "chamber music" era. I still love it. Maybe I'm definitely getting old...

Sospesi nell'incredibile (Le Orme, 1973)

It's always difficult to extract a single track from a dense and cohesive concept album like Le Orme's "Felona e Sorona". Even so, "Sospesi nell'incredibile" is one of my favourite italian prog songs. Firstly, it's the opening track of the album, that's to say the gateway to another world, kind of a space opera focusing on the alternate fortunes of two twin planets... and it's a great overture! Secondly, it's a fine example of instrumental prog based on a powerful trio "à la E,L & P", in which you hardly regret the absence of a guitarist... and that's saying something.

 

Le Orme in their "powerful trio" era.

 

There's the whole taste of the '70s in this track: you'll find SF, space rock, proggy plots, falsetto, plenty of keyboards and so on... a real treat for connoisseurs. I highly recommend to turn off the lights and listen to this in the dark. Enjoy.