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La Terra (album)

album by Aktuala

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ3824585 ↗
Source-derived summary

La Terra ("The Earth") is the second studio album by Italian world music pioneers Aktuala. It was released on Bla Bla records in 1974. The cover features a medieval map of the world as it was known surrounded by the "world ocean". There are fewer, longer pieces than on the first record and they feature extended jams. Maioli writes that it was representative of the music played by the core group of Maioli, Cavallanti and Cerantola for two years; rehearsing and jamming in restaurants and psych wards until they got the perfect sound, and that it features the influences but not the performances of many of the other musicians who performed with them over that time. It is the first recording of master world percussionist Trilok Gurtu, who had to leave Italy shortly after the recording because of work visa expiry.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “La Terra (album)” as album by Aktuala. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Terra, album and Aktuala.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1974—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1974. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Terra, album and Aktuala providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “La Terra (album)”, the useful work is to connect “album by Aktuala” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3824585. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1974.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “La Terra (album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow La Terra (album) primary sources, La Terra (album) archive and Terra research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “La Terra (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.