https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Asjy1-9mxI After We Are Coming To You (1972), Wherever You Are (1982), Se siamo uniti (1987) and – with Gen Verde – Come fuoco vivo (1998) and Messa della Concordia (2004), Gen Rosso releases a new DVD for the Year of Mercy: Voce del mio canto. We are led into the music by Lito Amuchastegui, from Argentina, who has been with Gen Rosso for 20 years. He composed most of the songs that led to the composition of a complete Mass. He was helped by Beni Enderle for the music, Valerio Lode Ciprì for the lyrics and Emanuele Chirco for the final mixing. Lito has loved music all his life and began singing in public at the age of five. With Gen Rosso he worked as a sound engineer. Voce del mio canto (Voice of my song) is his legacy to the group, as he returns to the place he was born in Córdoba, Argentina. “Writing a Mass is no joke,” he declares. “It requires awareness: you’re talking about who God is for you. In front of every piece I had to place myself in front of Him and ask: are You truly the voice of my song? Are You my only treasure? When there are crosses, are You my Simon of Cyrene? Il Cielo è con noi is one my favourite pieces. It was inspired by a writing of Chiara Lubich in which she says that Heaven has been poured on us, Heaven in all its infiniteness: “you were born among us/ you brought with you the fragrance of Heaven/ you died for us, you are pure love/ you are Divine love. It asks about God not on the theological or historical level, but on the personal level: Who is God for me? So, Voce del mio canto is most of all about an experience: prayer, the joy of experiencing that you are loved by God…. But where did the idea of a sung Mass come from? “The reason behind it was the desire to make music. I took guitar along on vacation and wrote Quelli che amono te (Those that love you) in one sitting. Then I put it to music and shared it with the people who were with me and they liked it. Then I kept going and ended up with eleven pieces, plus two more that we already had. Why a Mass? Perhaps it shows that God was saying to me: ‘I want to help you to give more glory to me.’ I set off from there. What is the story behind each of the songs? Lito revealed that he had put a bit of his own roots into each piece: “One song talks about Pane della Madre Terra (Bread of Mother Earth). We South Americans have strong feelings towards Mother Earth which stem from indigenous tradition. Moreover, I was in Uruguay where I got to know about the ‘candombe’ which has Afro-American features, and I wanted to leave a mark of the experience I had had with the Uruguayan musicians in the Santo. They are a people of singing and praising God, a people of the streets, with tambourines like King David who sang and danced in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Then there was Niña de Nazareth (Girl from Nazareth), a song I wrote before joining Gen Rosso but was never able to put it to music. I worked on it with Beni Henderle, and we came out with the song. Other pieces were a bit more difficult: for the Kyrie Eleison, for example, I had come with 7 different versions. I was trying to convey the experience that God loves us; His mercy is also born from being Love. The rest is relative; whereas, for me, this is like a splinter in my mind.”     What suggestions could you give to those who want to play these songs? “I would suggest to them that these songs aren’t meant to be sung, but lived. I would wish to anyone who would like to use them – in a group, a parish, a choir – that they would be able to have this experience of God: to “enter” the songs. I would wish that they could be able to enter the songs with their souls, so that the correct interpretation of each piece would come out.” Song List:

1. Verso di te (Towards You)
2. Kyrie Eleison
3. Gloria
4. Loda il Signore anima mia (Praise the Lord, my soul)
5. Alleluia
6. Quelli che amano te (Those that love you)
7. Santo, Candombe rhythm (Holy, holy, holy)
8. Agnello di Dio (Lamb of God)
9. Il cielo è con noi (Heaven is here with us)
10. Voce del mio canto (Voice of my song)
11. Come un fiume (Like a river)
12. Ave Maria
13. Niña de Nazareth.

Complete texts and musical scores are included with the CD Where to buy Voce del mio canto CD