L'Era del Cinghiale Bianco - The Age of the White Boar

In 1975, Battiato met Karlheinz Stockhausen, who encouraged him to learn traditional music notation and to study music theory. Battiato set himself on a course of self-study and immersed himself in the world of classical music. He also studied violin with Giusto Pio, who became a collaborator and musician on many subsequent albums. From 1976 through 1979 Battiato practically lived the life of a hermit as he pursued his sonic and musical research. He emerged occasionally to concertize, presentations that were long on improvisation based on various themes he was exploring and developing. He also continued to write music and produce work for other artists. Battiato’s own albums during these years were minimalist “contemporary classical” in nature, leaning on the piano, violin, voice, and occasionally other orchestral instruments for their tonality. The 1978 album Egitto prima delle sabie won the prestigious Stockhausen Prize in 1979 for works for solo piano. Once again, however, Battiato felt a calling to pursue a new musical direction and to break out of his cloistered existence. The “three-minute song form” became his new field of research and endeavor, and his goal was to connect with a larger audience, not by reflecting their world back to them but by describing his own internal worlds in a language that could be understood by all. L’Era del Cinghiale Bianco was his opening gambit.