Concert at the San Nicolao church in Giornico, September 2, 2023

The composition has been inspired by the Swiss Italian legend “The Hunchbacks of Piumogna” (I gobbi della Piumogna). At the Piumogna Waterfall near Faido, it is said that one can hear the dwarves sing. However, they had once forgotten the final verse of their song. In those days, two hunchbacks lived in the area, both tailors named Stör, but with completely different characters. One was grumpy, envious, and quarrelsome, while the other was always cheerful, helpful, and universally loved. The only thing that made him deeply sad was that his hunch prevented him from winning the hand of the girl he had fallen in love with. One dark winter night, as he was making his way home to Dalpe, he found himself unexpectedly caught in a snowstorm. Suddenly, he found himself near the Piumogna in the midst of a frenzied dance of the dwarves. In a trance, he sang and danced along, and thus he revealed to them the forgotten verses. In gratitude, they granted him a wish: the dwarves magically removed his hunch and stuck it onto an oak tree. The jealous colleague wanted to repeat the adventure, but it ended badly for him: with a hunch in the front and another in the back.