Walter Maioli (born 1950 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

) is an Italian researcher, paleorganologist, poly-instrumentalist and composer. Specialized in

experimental archaeology Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing various tasks ...

and music, in particular that of archaic civilization. He has been researching the music of

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

and

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

for more than thirty-five years. Always interested in the music of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, he has gone on journeys to discover the folkloristic Italian and Mediterranean traditions learning the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

, and

European music The culture of Europe is rooted in its art, architecture, film, different types of music, economics, literature, and philosophy. European culture is largely rooted in what is often referred to as its "common cultural heritage". Definition ...

since the beginning of the seventies. In 1972 he founded the pioneer world music group

Aktuala Aktuala were a pioneering band from Italy, formed in 1972. The name comes from the Esperanto for "contemporary". Their music has been categorised as world music, progressive rock, psychedelic, or avant garde, or "sounding like that of the Englis ...

group, dedicated to folkloristic African and

Asian music Asian music encompasses numerous musical styles originating in many Asian countries. Musical traditions in Asia * Music of Central Asia ** Music of Afghanistan (when included in the definition of Central Asia) ** Music of Kazakhstan ** Music of ...

. In the eighties Walter Maioli's researches focused on the field of prehistoric instruments, his work was presented at the Archaeological Symposium of Amsterdam for the opening of the Den Haag Museum in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

(Den Haag). In 1987 he prepared the Natural Art Laboratory of Morimondo in the Ticino Park, working on the Art of the Nature, publishing books on the subject for the Jaca Book: "Origins, sounds and music", and for Giorgio Mondadori: "Orchestra of the Nature". In 1991 he displayed the collection called "The Origins of Musical Instruments" to the History of Nature Museum in

and presented "Art of the Stars" sounds for the planetarium, at Ulrico Hoelpi Civic Planetarium in Milan in collaboration with

Fiorella Terenzi Fiorella Terenzi is an Italian-born astrophysicist, author and recording artist who is best known for taking recordings of radio waves from far-away galaxies and turning them into music. She received her doctorate from the University of Milan b ...

. Starting in 1994, for one and a half years he was coordinating the musical part of the Archeon Archaeological Theme Park in

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, producing the CD called "200.000 years in music". In 1995 he founded Synaulia, a team of musicians,

archeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

, paleorganologists, and choreographers dedicated to the application of their historical research to

ancient music Ancient music refers to the musical cultures and practices that developed in the literate civilizations of the ancient world. Succeeding the music of prehistoric societies and lasting until the Post-classical era, major centers of Ancient musi ...

and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

periods, carrying out an intense activity of conferences, seminars, and concerts in Europe, in particular in the

and Germany. In Italy, some of his performances were presented on

archaeological sites An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

such as Mausoleo di Augusto, Mercati Traianei, Terme di Diocleziano,

Ostia Antica Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia (Rome), Ostia, that is the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a ...

Villa Adriana Hadrian's Villa ( it, Villa Adriana) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the ruins and archaeological remains of a large Roman villa, villa complex built c. AD 120 by Roman Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli, Italy, Tivoli outside Rome. The site is ...

Preneste Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...

Pompei Pompei (; nap, Pumpeje, ) or Pompeii (, as in the name of the ancient city) is a city and commune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy, home of the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. History ...

and

Stabia Stabiae () was an ancient city situated near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia and approximately 4.5 km southwest of Pompeii. Like Pompeii, and being only from Mount Vesuvius, this seaside resort was largely buried by tephra ash ...

, with the scope of recreating the sound atmosphere and executive context of the Roman age. When Michael Hoffman, chose the Synaulia group to participate in the shooting of the movie ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' in 1998, Walter Maioli took care of the reproduction of the musical instruments. Among the collaborations of Walter Maioli and Synaulia, there are performances with

Giorgio Albertazzi Giorgio Albertazzi (20 August 1923 – 28 May 2016) was an Italian actor and film director. Born in San Martino a Mensola, Tuscany, Albertazzi joined the Italian Social Republic and reached the rank of lieutenant. After their defeat, he spen ...

: "Eros voglio cantare", "Intorno a Dante", and "Mammi, Pappi e Sirene in Magna Grecia, and the

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

for the first two episodes of the television program on TV RAI 2 "Albertazzi e Fo raccontato la storia del teatro italiano". Two songs of Synaulia were used in ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'', directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

. Walter Maioli and the Synaulia took care of the musical parts of ''Rome'' of BBC-HBO, ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' of ABC and the New Line Cinema's ''Nativity'' (2006), as well as other documentaries of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

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, Japanese TV,

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

and experimental archaeological videos for the

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

, CNN,

Museo Nazionale Etrusco The National Etruscan Museum ( it, Museo Nazionale Etrusco) is a museum of the Etruscan civilization, housed in the Villa Giulia in Rome, Italy. History The villa was built for Pope Julius III, for whom it was named. It remained in papal propert ...

of Villa Giulia in Rome and other museums in Germany. From November 2007 Walter Maioli with the Fondazione Ras has started the laboratory "Synaulia in Stabiae" in Castellamaare di Stabiae.Fondazione Ras
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Discography

, "

" brani: Altamira and Mammuth R.C., LP – Bla Bla, 1973 *

, "

La Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

" (''The Earth''),LP – Bla bla, 1974 and CD Artis, 1992 *

, " Tapetto Volante" (''Flying Carpet'') LP Bla Bla, 1976, CD Artist 1993 * Futuro Antico, Futuro Antico Cassette K7 Soundcenter 1980 * Walter Maioli "Anthology", 1985, Sound Reporters, Amsterdam * Art of primitive sound, "Musical instruments from prehistory: the paleolithic, Archeosound XA1001, 1991 * Archeon, "200.000 Jarr Muziek", 1995, Archeon, WTWCD 950301, 1995 * Synaulia, "Music of Ancient Rome, Vol.1 Wind instruments",

Amiata Records Amiata Records is an independent cross-cultural record label founded in 1992 by Matteo Silva and Marc Eagleton with headquarters in Florence and offices in London, and Rome. Amiata derives its name from a mountain in southern Tuscany, in Italy. A ...

- ARNR 1396, 1996 * Taraxacum – Espolazione elettronica della NaturaWalter Maioli – Nirodh Fortini, CD – allegato alla rivista Anthropos & Iatria n. 4 – 2001 * Synaulia, CD "Music of Ancient Rome, Vol.2 String instruments",

, 2002 * Walter Maioli – I Flauti Etruschi – Tra Mito, Immaginario e Archeologia, Soundcenter – CDS01, 2003 * Walter Maioli – Caverne Sonore – I suoni delle stalattiti e stalagmiti – Toirano and Borgio Verezzi – Liguria, Italy, Soundcenter – CDS02, 2006 * Futuro Antico – " Intonazioni Archetipe", Soundcenter, CDS03, 2007

Bibliography

* Walter Maioli, "Le Origini: Il suono e la musica",Jaca Book, Milano, 1991 * Walter Maioli and Giordano Bianchi, "Suoni e musiche della natura," Cemb-Essegiemme, Milan, 1991 * Walter Maioli and Manuela Stefani, "L'Orchestra della natura", Giorgio Mondadori, Milan, 1991

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maioli, Walter 1950 births Living people Italian archaeologists Italian folklorists