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We’re delighted to share “Zu Erich”, a witty and imaginative composition performed live during the Sujazzstiva concert at Ceresio Estate in Lugano on September 3, 2023.

This piece, composed by Marco Santilli, breathes life into the legend of Zurich’s patron saints Felix, Regula, and Exuperantius—Christian martyrs who carried their severed heads to their final resting place. But before their fateful end, the story begins with a less dramatic but amusing twist.

According to this playful retelling, the three saints arrive in Zurich and, feeling quite lost, ask the locals for directions. In response, they are continuously told to go “Zu Erich!”—a direction that becomes so repeatedly shouted that the vowels merge into an unmistakable “Zürich!” Thus, the city’s name is born amid the flurry of confusion and excitement.

The music mirrors this humorous chaos with its rapid exchanges, bustling melodies, and a crescendo of jubilant fanfare worthy of a stadium celebration. References to the Sechseläuten march, Ticino folk song “Se parto per Zurigo”, and even Wagner’s Tristan chord—reportedly forgotten in Zurich—add layers of wit and musical homage.

🎶 This piece transforms history into a grand musical farce, complete with a triumphant, three-part fugue symbolizing the unwavering spirit of the three saints.

📅 Recorded live at Ceresio Estate, September 3, 2023.

🎧 Watch the performance on Youtube:

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We are pleased to share “Dauer der Ewigkeit”, a profound composition by Marco Santilli that was performed live at the LAC in Lugano.

This piece is inspired by an ancient legend from Bosco Gurin, the highest village in Ticino, once home to a community of Walser settlers. Though Gurinerdeutsch, their unique dialect, is rarely spoken today, the stories have endured. One such tale describes a small bird sharpening its beak on a massive stone known as “en ‘Pezta”.

Every 300 years, the bird returns to the stone, and when the stone has been completely worn down, eternity itself is said to come to an end.

The music beautifully embodies this contrast: the tiny bird and the vast, unyielding stone, the fleeting and the infinite. The piece unfolds with a heavy, spacious melody that evokes the slow passage of time—dark yet spacious, with a thread of hope that rises through the shadows.

🎶 Let Dauer der Ewigkeit transport you to a place where time stretches endlessly, yet feels fragile and fleeting.

📅 Recorded live at the LAC Lugano, 3 November 2024.

🎧 Watch the performance on Youtube:

We’d love to hear your impressions—what emotions does this legend and its musical interpretation awaken in you?