Italian folk music has a deep and complex history. National unification came quite late to the Italian peninsula, so its many hundreds of separate cultures remained un-homogenized quite until quite recently compared to many other European countries. Moreover, Italian folk music reflects Italy's geographic position at the south of Europe and in center of the Mediterranean Sea: Arabic, African, Celtic, Persian, Roma, and Slavic influences are readily apparent in the musical styles of the Italian regions. Italy's rough geography and the historic dominance of small city states has allowed quite diverse musical styles to coexist in close proximity. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Italian peninsula or the Apennine peninsula is one of the greatest peninsulas of Europe, spanning 1000 km from the Alps in the north, to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... Arab music is the music of Arabic-speaking people or countries, especially those centered around the Arabian Peninsula. ... Africa is a large and diverse continent, consisting of dozens of countries, hundreds of languages and thousands of races, tribes and ethnic groups. ... Celtic music is a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic peoples of Western Europe. ... Figurines playing stringed instruments, excavated at Susa, 3rd millenia BC. Iran National Museum. ... 19th century print of Roma musicians Roma music is highly varied among the diverse communities of the Roma (aka Gypsies). ... The music of Southeastern Europe is a type of music distinct from others in Europe. ... This article is about the early Italian city-states during the Italian Renaissance. ...

Today, Italy's folk music is often divided into several spheres of geographic influence, a classification system proposed by Alan Lomax in 1956^[1] and often repeated since. The Celtic and Slavic influences on the group and open-voice choral works of the north contrast with the Arabic, Greek, and African influenced strident monody of the south. In central Italy these influences combine, while indigenous traditions like narrative and ballad singing remain. The music of the island of Sardinia is distinct from that of the rest of Italy, and is best known for the polyphonic chanting of the tenores. Lomax playing guitar, sometime between 1938 and 1950 Alan Lomax (January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American folklorist and musicologist specializing in the music of the United States and that of other nations which influenced American music. ... Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page Monody is a kind of music distinguished by having a single melodic line and accompaniment. ... Sardinia (Sardegna in Italian, Sardigna, Sardinna or Sardinnia in the Sardinian language, Sardenya in Catalan), is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (Sicily is the largest), between Italy, Spain and Tunisia, south of Corsica. ...

Italian folk revival

The modern understanding of Italian folk music has its roots in the growth of ethnomusicology in the 1940s and 1950s and in the resurgence of regionalism in Italy at the time. The Centro Nazionale di Studi di Musica Popolare (CNSMP), now part of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, was started in 1948 to study and archive the various musical styles throughout Italy. In the 1950s, a number of important field recordings were conducted by American Alan Lomax and Italians Diego Carpitella, Franco Coggiola, Roberto Leydi among others. Toward the end of the decade, a special effort was made to capture the folk traditions of the meridionale (southern Italy), including an important study by Carpitella and anthropologist Ernesto de Martino of the tarantella. Ethnomusicology (from the Greek ethnos = nation and mousike = music), formerly comparative musicology, is the study of music in its cultural context, cultural musicology. ... The Regions of Italy were granted a degree of regional autonomy in the 1948 constitution, which states that the constitutions role is: to recognize, protect and promote local autonomy, to ensure that services at the State level are as decentralized as possible, and to adapt the principles and laws... The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in a musical academy and symphonic organization based in Rome, Italy. ... Diego Capetalia was an Italian who was famous for his folk music. ... The tarantella (tarentule, tarentella, tarantel) is a dance in 6/8 time characterised by the rapid whirling of couples. ...

The early 1960s saw the rise of social and political popular music, including a vast number of releases by the I Dischi del Sole label. Several important groups had their birth around the same time, including Cantacronache in 1958 and the Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano (NCI) in 1962. The NCI was an assemblage of musicians and composers including Giovanna Marini that made its first major public appearance at the 1964 Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi and generated a large number of records and concerts. Spoleto (Latin: Spoletium), 42°44′ N 12°44′ E, an ancient town in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria, at 385 meters (1391 ft) above sea-level on a foothill of the Apennines. ...

The Italian folk revival was accelerating by 1966, when the Istituto Ernesto de Martino was founded by Gianni Bosio in Milan to document Italian oral culture and traditional music. With the emergence of the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare in 1970, the notion of a musical group organized to promote the music of a particular region (in this case, Campania) was clearly gaining momentum. Many of the best known Italian folk revival bands got their start in the following decade, including La Lionetta (1977), La Ciapa Rusa (1978), Re Niliu (1979), Calicanto (1981), and Baraban (1983). A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... MILAN Type anti-tank Nationality joint France/German Era Cold War, modern Launch platform Individual, Vehicle Target Vehicle, Fortification History Builder MBDA, Bharat Dynamics (under license) Date of design 70s Production period since 1972 Service duration since 1972 Operators 41 countries Variants MILAN 1, MILAN 2, MILAN 2T, MILAN 3... Campania is a region of Southern Italy, bordering on Lazio to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east, Basilicata to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Barabàn is an Italian folk group focused on the musical traditions of northern Italy, especially that of the Po River valley. ...

Northern & central Italy

The northern regions of Italy historically exhibited Celtic and Slavic influences in their cultures. Roots revivalists have revived traditional songs, though, from Piedmont (La Ciapa Rusa), Lombardy (Baraban) and Padua (Calicanto). A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... Piedmont is a region of northwestern Italy. ... Lombardy (Italian: Lombardia) is a region in northern Italy between the Alps and the Po Valley. ... Barabàn is an Italian folk group focused on the musical traditions of northern Italy, especially that of the Po River valley. ... Location within Italy Tronco Maestro Riviera: a pedestrian walk along a section of the inland waterway or naviglio interno of Padua The city of Padua (Lat. ...

The Genoese docks are the home of trallalero, a polyphonic vocal style with five voices, one of which imitates a guitar. It arose in the 1920s and includes modern groups like La Squadra -- Compagnia del Trallalero and Laura Parodi. Location within Italy Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Aquaverde Genoa (Italian Genova, Genoese Zena, French Gênes, German Genua, Spanish Génova,Galician Xénova) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... Trallalero is a kind of polyphonic folk music from the Ligurian region of Genoa, in the north of Italy. ...

The highly urban provinces of northern and central Italy are also known for the medieval sung poetry ottava rima, especially in Tuscany, Lazio and Abruzzo. Ottava rima is performed by the poeti contadini (peasant poets) who use the poems of Homer or Dante, as well as more modern lyrics which address political or social issues. It is often completely improvised, and sometimes competitive in nature. Tuscan folk poetry is closer in form and style to high-culture poetry than is typical elsewhere in Italy. It has been suggested that Sicilian octave be merged into this article or section. ... Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Latium (now Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... Abruzzo is a region of central Italy bordering Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east and the Adriatic Sea to the east. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ...

The saltarello dance is also popular throughout the region. Canzioniere del Lazio is one of the biggest names from central Italy during the 1970s roots revival. With socially aware lyrics, this new wave of Italian roots revivalists often played entirely acoustic songs with influences from jazz and others. More modern musicians in the same field include Lucilla Galeazzi, La Piazza and La Macina. The saltarello was a lively, merry dance that developed from the galliard in Naples during the 13th century. ... A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ...

Southern Italy

At the southern tip of Italy, Calabria and Puglia are heavily rural. Zampogna bagpipes are common, and other traditions include the tarantella and Puglian brass bands. Re Niliu has helped popularize Calabrian traditions, reviving ancient lira (an indigenous violin) as well as composing songs in Calabrese and the other immigrant languages, Greek and Albanian. Calabria, formerly Brutium, is a region in southern Italy which occupies the toe of the Italian peninsula south of Naples. ... Apulia is a region of Italy (called Puglia in Italian), bordering on Molise to the north-west, Campania to the south-west, Basilicata to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the south-east. ... A bagpipe performer in Amsterdam. ... The tarantella (tarentule, tarentella, tarantel) is a dance in 6/8 time characterised by the rapid whirling of couples. ... The Lochgelly Band, a Scottish colliery band, circa 1890 A brass band is a musical group consisting mostly of brass instruments, often with a percussion section. ... Lira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City. ... Cultivar Group Brassica oleracea Italica Group Broccoli is a plant of the Cabbage family, Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). ...

A folk dance called the tarantella is still sometimes performed. It was performed to cure the bite of Lycosa tarentula, usually with female victims dancing until exhaustion. Performers used varying rhythms according to the exact kind of spider. The tarantella (tarentule, tarentella, tarantel) is a dance in 6/8 time characterised by the rapid whirling of couples. ... Binomial name Lycosa tarentula The Tarantula spider whose scientific name is Lycosa tarentula (or, more recently, Hogna tarentula) is a wolf_spider from the area around a city in Italy now called Taranto but called Tarentum in Roman times. ...

Antonio Infantino has explored the percussion-based tarantolati healing rituals since 1975, when he formed the group Tarantolati di Tricarico.

Puglia is also home to brass bands like Banda Cittá Ruvo Di Puglia; this tradition has led to collaborations with jazz musicians like Matteo Salvatore, Battista Lena, Eugenio Colombo and Enrico Rava. Enrico Rava (born August 4, 1939 in Trieste, Italy), is a jazz trumpet player. ...

Ethnic Greeks

The ethnic Greeks living in Salento (Puglia) and Calabria have their own distinct dialects (Griko and Grecanico, respectively). They have lived in the area for an undetermined amount of time, possibly as early as Ancient Greece or as late as the Middle Ages. The community has been largely assimilated by the Italian nation, but there remain speakers of the dialects and other aspects of the culture. There was a roots revival in the 1970s in this area, paralleling similar developments across continental Europe, including Brittany and Catalonia. Salento is the south-eastern extremity of Apulia region, Italy. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ...

Folk musical traditions in the area include a religious piece, Passiuna tu Christù, which recounts the Passion of Christ. The Passion is performed by street accordionists with two singers. The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ...

Sicily

Main article: Music of Sicily

Sicily is home to a great variety of Religious music, including a cappella devotional songs from Montedoro and many brass bands like Banda Ionica, who play songs from a diverse repertoire. Harvest songs and work songs are also indigenous to the agricultural island, known as "Italy's granary". Franco Battiato, Fratelli Mancuso and Ciccio Busacca are among the most popular musicians from Sicily. Busacca has worked with Dario Fo, like many Italian musicians, but is perhaps best-known for his setting the poems of Ignazio Buttitta, a Sicilian dialect poet. Sicily is home to a great variety of Christian music, including a cappella devotional songs from Montedoro and many brass bands like Banda Ionica, who play songs from a diverse repertoire. ... Religious music (also sacred music) is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. ... A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... The Lochgelly Band, a Scottish colliery band, circa 1890 A brass band is a musical group consisting mostly of brass instruments, often with a percussion section. ... Banda Ionica is an Italian folk group focused on the brass band traditions of Sicilia. ... Hay bales after harvest in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany In agriculture, harvesting is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Franco Battiato (Jonia (CT), Italy 1945), italian singer, songwriter, filmmaker. ... Ciccio Busacca is a street singer from Sicily. ... Ignazio Buttitta (Bagheria, 19 September 1899 - 5 April 1997) was a Sicilian dialectal poet. ... Poets who wrote in Italian (or Italian dialects): Antonio Abati Luigi Alamanni Aleardo Aleardi Cecco Angiolieri Francis of Assisi Dante Alighieri Guittone dArezzo Matteo Boiardo (Epic poet, 1441-94) Ludovico Ariosto Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli (Roman dialect) Giovanni Boccaccio Ignazio Buttitta (Sicilian dialect) Giosuè Carducci Guido Cavalcanti Dario Chioli Gabriele...

Fratelli Mancuso (brothers Enzo and Lorenzo Mancuso) have fused traditional Sicilian peasant songs (lamentazioni), monodic chants (alla carrettiera) and other indigenous forms to create a uniquely Sicilian modern song style.

Folk music of Sardinia

Main article: Music of Sardinia

Probably the most culturally distinct of all the regions in Italy, Sardinia is an isolated island known for the tenores' polyphonic chant, sacred songs called gozos, and launeddas, a woodwind instrument similar to the Greek aulos. Launeddas are used to play a complex style of music that has achieved some international attention, especially Dionigi Burranca, Antonio Lara, Luigi Lai and Efisio Melis; Burranca, like many of the most famous launedda musicians, is from Samatzai in Cagliari. An ancient instrument, dating back to at least the 8th century BC, launeddas are still played during religious ceremonies and dances (su ballu). Distinctively, they are played using extensive variations on a few melodic phrases, and a single song can last over an hour. Probably the most culturally distinct of all the regions in Italy, Sardinia is an islated island known for the tenores polyphonic chant, sacred songs called gozos and launeddas, a type of bagpipes. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ... Gozo is an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, second in size to Malta Island. ... The launeddas, triple clarinet or triplepipe is a typical Sardinian woodwind instrument, consisting of three pipes. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... Satyr playing an aulos The ancient Greek aulos, often mistranslated as flute, was a double-piped reed instrument. ... A town in the province of Cagliari, a region of Sardinia in Italy. ... Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. ...

The otava, or eight-line stanza, is a common lyrical form in Sardinia, one which allows the perfomer a certain amount of improvisation and is not unlike the stornello of south-central mainland Italy.

Rural polyphonic chanting of the tenores is related to Corsican music and is sung with four vocal parts. They are bassu (bass), mesa boghe (middle), contra (counter) and boghe (leader and soloist). The most popular group is Tenores di Bitti. Outside of France, the island of Corsica is perhaps best known musically for its polyphonic choral tradition. ... Tenores di Bitti “Mialinu Pira” • Omar Bandinu-Bassu • Marco Serra-Contra • Dino Ruiu-Oche e MEsu Oche • Bachisio Pira-Oche e Mesuoche (Italy) Directly from the heartland of Sardinia, the city of Bitti in the region of Barbagia, known for its polyphonic singing, which many experts find one of the...

Sacred gozos, or sacred songs, can be heard during religious celebrations, sung by choruses like Su Cuncordu 'e su Rosariu. Gozo is an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, second in size to Malta Island. ...

Other influential Sardinian musicians include Totore Chessa (organetto), Maria Carta (singer), Mauro Palmas, Elena Ledda and Suonofficina, Cordas et Cannas, Paolo Fresu (trumpet) and Gesuino Deiana (guitar). Paolo Fresu is a trumpet and flugelhorn jazz player born in Berchidda, Sardinia, on February 10th, 1961, and an arranger and a music composer. ... The trumpet is the highest brass instrument in register other than the cornet, its above the horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba. ... A guitar is a stringed musical instrument. ...

See also

• Music of Italy
• Music of Naples

The music of Italy is well-known, and includes numerous musical types, ranging from parish street bands to symphony orchestras, modern rock and pop and opera houses. ... Ciao, Raggazi Music of Naples is very cool ...

Notes

1. ^  Lomax, Alan (1956). "Folk Song Style: Notes on a Systematic Approach to the Study of Folk Song." Journal of the International Folk Music Council, VIII, 48-50.

Lomax playing guitar, sometime between 1938 and 1950 Alan Lomax (January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American folklorist and musicologist specializing in the music of the United States and that of other nations which influenced American music. ...

References

• Magrini, Tullia (2001): 'Italy: Traditional Music', "Grove Music Online". ed. L. Macy. Retrieved 01 February 2006.

• Surian, Alessio, "Tenores and Tarantellas." World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Ed. Simon Broughton, Mark Ellignham, and Richard Trillo. London: The Rough Guides., 1999, 189-201. ISBN 1-85828-636-0