Alla fiera dell'est is an album by the Italian singer-songwriter Angelo Branduardi

Angelo Branduardi

Angelo Branduardi , is an Italian folk singer and composer who scored relevant success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.- Biography :...

. It was released in 1976 by Polydor and won the prize of Italian music critics in the same year. In 1978 it was released in a French version with the title A la foire de l'est and in an English version, entitled Highdown Fair and with lyrics by Peter Sinfield

Peter Sinfield

Peter John Sinfield is an English poet, lyricist and artist, most famously known as the lyricist and co-founding member of early incarnations of King Crimson, whose debut album In the Court of the Crimson King has been regarded as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever...

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Lyrics of the Italian version were written by Branduardi's wife, Luisa Zappa. The title track is an adaptation of a Hebrew Easter song Had Gadyà. "Il vecchio e la farfalla" is inspired by an oriental proverb mentioned in The Travels of Marco Polo

The Travels of Marco Polo

Books of the Marvels of the World or Description of the World , also nicknamed Il Milione or Oriente Poliano and commonly called The Travels of Marco Polo, is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing the...

. La serie dei numeri (The Song of Eternal Numbers) is taken from a Breton song, Ar Rannoù ("The series"), contained in the anthology Barzaz Breiz

Barzaz Breiz

Barzaz Breiz is a collection of Breton popular songs collected by Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué and published in 1839. It was compiled from oral tradition and preserves traditional folk tales, legends and music...

. The melody of "Sotto il tiglio" (Under the Lime Tree) is based on a German lied entitled "Unter den Linden", written by Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide is the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets.-Life history:For all his fame, Walther's name is not found in contemporary records, with the exception of a solitary mention in the travelling accounts of Bishop Wolfger of Erla of the Passau diocese:...

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Track listing

1. "Alla fiera dell'est" - 5:26
2. "La favola degli aironi" - 3:47
3. "Il vecchio e la farfalla" - 2:59
4. "Canzone per Sarah" - 4:21
5. "La serie dei numeri" - 4:33
6. "Il dono del cervo" - 3:17
7. "Il funerale" - 8:10
8. "L'uomo e la nuvola" - 3:49
9. "Sotto il tiglio - 2:56
10. "Canzone del rimpianto" - 3:01