Lo stile nello studio: composizione e interpretazione nella produzione di Fabrizio De André e Ivano Fossati

This essay is a study of the musical style of Fabrizio De André (1940-1999) and Ivano Fossati (1951). The analysis of De André’s and Fossati’s production from a musical point of view allows us to uncover the implementation of real strategies, techniques of composition, which highlight their musical language. Furthermore, this article will provide the occasion to discuss some more global questions about style in “canzone d’autore”. What’s makes the style of a “cantautore” distinctive and recognizable by a musical point of view? How to take into account the intrinsic collaborative dimension of this type of music production? In this way, the aim of this study is to point out some suitable analytical tools and models of interpretation for the formal study of popular music, and textual analysis. The investigation concerns patterns (stylistic features) with a special focus on rhythmic and micro-rhythmic relationships in De André’s and Fossati’s recordings. The analysis of the complex rhythmic structure of songs is also the opportunity for discussing certain aspects that relate to the description of grooves and micro-rhythmic discrepancies as a means of conveying a distinct authorial production identity within a “rationalized” recording process.