Fischia il sasso! playlist

‘Fischia il sasso!’ (‘the whistling stone’)

In 1926, the fascist regime established the Opera Nazionale Balilla, an organization for the physical and moral education and support of children. Balilla was the nickname of the young Genoese patriot who triggered a popular revolt against Austrian invaders in the mid-18th century: during the fascist period, the name was given to boys between the ages of 8 and 14. Younger boys, those between 6 and 8 years, were called figli della lupa (‘sons of the she-wolf’), while adolescents (14-18 years) were known as avanguardisti. A complex educational project was conceived for fascist youth, which aimed at disciplining young persons both physically and spiritually by involving them in athletic activities with a pre-military character and providing them with a spiritual, cultural and religious education to supplement their learning at school. As part of the broader project of the ‘fascistification’ of society, the Opera Nazionale Balilla publicised its activities through the ‘Fascist Saturdays’, exhibitions of mass choreography set to celebratory music. This playlist includes the most popular marches and hymns of the Balilla and the figli della lupa, often sung by boys’ choirs. In addition, it contains songs that pay tribute to the cliché of the good boy who shows exaggerated respect for Duce, school and family, pieces recorded by such regime divos as Crivel and Alfredo Del Pelo. Finally, the list presents a performed sketch with musical accompaniment – a sort of lengthy propagandistic advert – the hymn of fascist students and that of the dopolavoristi (the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro was another of the regime’s creation designed to structure the free time of workers).