73. Terra e mare

The song was commissioned for inclusion in Novissima, an annual album devoted to the fine arts founded in 1901 by its editor, Edoardo De Fonseca (a rather successful critic, writer, dramatist, and owner of other periodicals). The theme of the 1902 edition of Novissima was the sea (“il mare”).
It is unknown if the text for Terra e mare was chosen by Puccini or (more likely) pre-selected by De Fonseca. The author of the text, Enrico Panzacchi (1840-1904), was an extraordinarily popular lyric poet of the day, as well as a prolific author of prose. He was a staunch advocate of the works of Richard Wagner and was intensely involved in the early performances of Wagner’s operas in Italy (see Jung 1974).