Luigi Tenco, Fabrizio De Andrè, Gino Paoli are just some of the names that have given birth to art in Genoa.
Perhaps because of its melancholy nature, its landscapes, the contrasts of atmospheres, lights and colors, great characters have found in the nature of the Superba an inspiration to their works.
The Genovese School of Songwriting, at the end of the ’50s, was preparing to become a reference point for beautiful writing with unique and brilliant texts and refined melodies.
But why did this rich and flourishing music culture develop in Genoa? Because this is where all the imported music like jazz and swing from America and French music comes in.
They were above all a group of friends, gathered by the same passion for music, in a small town and with that magic that sometimes only the sea can give.
It created a real cultural movement that gives the city a reputation never seen, made of stories of those who really lived it and made it protagonist, with a love similar to that for a beautiful woman.
The most passionate is certainly De André who has described it all.
The old town, with its particular characters, some unrecommended but certainly always picturesque “If you go down the old quays in that thick air full of salt filled with odors there will find the thieves the murderers and the strange guy who sold for three thousand lire his mother to a dwarf.”
The well-known and unique Boccadasse, a piece of heart for every Genoese, is the protagonist of “Creuza de mä” a piece that, despite being sung in a very narrow dialect, strikes you at first hearing, even if you do not understand the words, but it is a true love melody.
Nervi e Sant’Ilario and the district of the Foce that ends in the typical promenade of Genoa, Corso Italia. We have dedicated an entire two-day tour to live through the places of its history and it is still for us an important part in the knowledge of Genoa so much to include it also in a larger tour dedicated to Liguria.
Luigi Tenco was adopted from Genoa, where he moved with his family when he was still very young.
Together with the others he becomes an icon of the Genoese school, renewing together with them the way of making music.
Tenco’s pieces were always much discussed, often censored or published under pseudonym.
Until the end, “Ciao amore ciao”, presented at Sanremo and not liked by the public and the jury that led him to make a sad gesture during the festival.
Even the great Gino Paoli, also a Genoese by adoption, wrote many verses telling of the splendid city to which he is very close.
The village of Boccadasse returns in “la Gatta”, the famous “Taste of salt” soundtrack of many summers and “Four friends” at the bar that wanted to change the world… that is the four “great” of Genoa, Paoli, De Andrè, Lauzi and Luigi Tenco.
Now all this magic has a single house, “ViadelCampo 29rosso”, a museum dedicated to the great of the Genoese school.
Visiting this museum is a strong cultural enrichment and teaches us many things about these artists, but organizing a tour of the places of their inspiration, their emotions helps us to better understand how much this city is able to give.
Do you want to spend a few hours among the verses of some of the greatest Italian songwriters? Choose it from our thematic tours.