La pulce d'acqua is an album of 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 1977 by Polydor. A French edition, entitled La demoiselle, was published in 1979; and English edition, entitled Fables and Fantasies and with lyrics written 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...

, was released in 1980.

"Ballo in Fa Diesis Minore" is based on Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman

Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...

 The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death , who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play...

in which a man defies the personification of Death (lyrics are taken from an inscription of a Danse Macabre depiction at Clusone

Clusone

Clusone is a town and comune in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. Located in the Val Seriana, it received the honorary title of city on 15 May 1957 with a presidential decree which ratified a Napoleon's promise of the year 1801....

, near Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

); the melody is inspired by "Schiarazula Marazula", a medieval northern Italian theme which accompanied exorcism rites and which was collected by Giorgio Mainerio

Giorgio Mainerio

Giorgio Mainerio was an Italian musician and composer.-Biography:Mainerio was born in Parma, Italy between 1530 and 1540. His father is thought to have been Scottish given that Giorgio signed Mayner as his family name. During his education he studied music, but he did not immediately begin a...

 in his Primo libro de' balli (1578). "Il ciliego" ("The cherry tree") is based on the English traditional song "The Cherry Tree Carol". "Il poeta di corte", featuring launeddas

Launeddas

The launeddas is a typical Sardinian woodwind instrument, consisting of three pipes. It is polyphonic and played using circular breathing. An ancient instrument, dating back to at least the 8th century BC, launeddas are still played during religious ceremonies and dances...

 parts by Luigi Lai

Luigi Lai

Luigi Lai is an Italian musician from Sardinia, and is living heir of the school of Sarrabus players of the launeddas.Lai was born at San Vito, in the province of Cagliari. As a child in nearby Villaputzu, he became a student of one of launeddas player Antonio Lara. For a time he lived in...

, is partially based on "Canarios" by Aragonese Baroque composer Gaspar Sanz

Gaspar Sanz

Gaspar Sanz was an Aragonese composer, guitarist, organist and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the Spanish comarca of Bajo Aragón. He studied music, theology and philosophy at the University of Salamanca, where he was later appointed Professor of Music...

.

"La lepre nella luna" ("The hare in the Moon") is inspired by a Buddhist legend

Buddhist mythology

Buddhist mythology operates within the Buddhist belief system. It is a relatively broad mythology, as it was adopted and influenced by several diverse cultures such as Gandhara which was the capital of Bactria. Later on, it also came to incorporate aspects from countries such as China and Japan...

 of the Moon rabbit

Moon rabbit

The Moon rabbit, also called the Jade Rabbit, in folklore is a rabbit that lives on the moon, based on pareidolia that identifies the markings of the moon as a rabbit. The story exists in many cultures, particularly in East Asian folklore, where it is seen pounding in a mortar and pestle...

. "La bella dama senza pietà" ("The beautiful merciless dame") recalls a John Keats

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...

' poem, in turn based on a composition by Alain Chartier

Alain Chartier

Alain Chartier was a French poet and political writer.He was born at Bayeux, into a family marked by considerable ability. His eldest brother Guillaume became bishop of Paris; and Thomas became notary to the king. Jean Chartier, a monk of St Denis, whose history of Charles VII is printed in vol. III...

. "La sposa rubata", finally, retakes a Breton song entitled "Ar plac'h dimezet gant Satan" ("The fiance of Satana"), included in the 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...

anthology.

Track listing

• "Ballo in Fa diesis minore" - 7:02
• "Il ciliegio" - 4:15
• "Nascita di un lago" - 4:12
• "Il poeta di corte" - 3:49
• "Il marinaio" - 4:07
• "La pulce d’acqua" - 4:44
• "La sposa rubata" - 4:01
• "La lepre nella luna" - 5:02
• "La bella dama senza pietà" - 6:40"