Big Blog #2

 ITALY 

"Italy has one of the most influential musical histories in the world"

Some traditional instruments of Italy- 

Zampogna 

-The zampogna is a traditional instrument that resembles the bagpipe

-Pipes are attached to a stock, which is then attached to the large bag you see above

-Traditionally the bag is made from goat hide, which then grows big when blown into it

-Like the bagpipes when squeezing the air out of the bag it makes a sound when moving through the pipes

-The tuning of the pipes changes according to the region it comes from and the specific music to be played

-There is a distinction between double-reed and single-reed zampognas

-Double-reed version usually has more drones to create harmony

Down below is the zampogna being played

Mandolin

-Mandolin evolved from the much more popular lute family of instruments, dates back all the way back to the 18th century in Italy

-The 18th century mandolin evolved from earlier predecessors like the Madore and Gittern

-The earlier lute instruments that would later become mandolins entered Italy most likely from the Middle East through Sicily

-The Italian mandolin has many similarities but is also different in several ways from the 8-string bluegrass instrument

-Original mandolin had a pegboard instead of a pegbox

And many more instruments that we are all pretty familiar with I feel like... like the

- Violin

- Viola

- Cello

- Double Bass

- Pianos 

But something I saw that was interesting and very different to me was the instrument...

Quartara

-Looks like a ceramic pitcher but is a particularly interesting Italian folk instrument

-Its a wind instrument!

-Blowing inside of the quartara makes a sound because of the narrow neck it has

-Played mainly in southern Italy like Sicily and Campania

You will need to skip to 2:54-3:36 to see how the quartara is played

Another instrument that was interesting is the 

Ghironda

-Italian folk music instrument, English name of the Hurdy-Gurdy

-A string instrument that uses a bow to make sound but do not do it the traditional way a violin would

-Has a hand crank on the side attached to a wheel with rosin on it which produces sound when moved along the strings

-Like lots of folk music the ghironda includes multiple drone strings that sound the same pitch underneath whatever melody the player makes on the keyboard section
-With the drone sounds the ghironda is similar in sound to the zampogna

-Popular in northern regions of Italy like Lombardy, Emilia, and Piedmont

I personally really like the sound of this tune!

Traditional dancing

Folklore dancing

Dance is an important part of folk traditions in Italy. Some of the dances are ancient and to a certain extent still persist today. Many of the dances are group activities performed in rows or circles. Some dances involve just couples like the tammuriata dance which is performed in Southern Italy and accompanied by a lyric song. There are also solo dances which are typically referred to as "flag dances" of various regions of Italy where the dancer passes a town flag or pennant around the neck, through the legs, behind the back, and tossing it high in the air and catching it. 

Tarantella

-Type of dance that is typical of the Southern regions of Italy

-Originally associated to the phenomenon of tarantism, a form of hysteric behavior that caused paroxysms and seizures 

-People believed that it was a bite from a large spider, the tarantula

-Dance was created to mimic the seizure and movements of the suffers (called tarantolati), who were believed to manage to free themselves of the venom by dancing 

-Danced in several regions of Italy with local music sung in each region or town

-Depending on the place of origin there are different names of the tarantella... some other names are tarantella Napoletana, tarantella calabrese, tarantella Siciliana, etc. 

-The dance is widespread almost all over the south

-Although the name is the same though, depending where you are from the music and dance will be slightly different

-Usually danced in couple, not necessarily women and men, or in groups of four people or more, or in a processional scheme

-Depending on where the dance is happening some dancers use castanets (clackers or palillos) while performing

-Some instruments used during the dance are the drum, bagpipes, accordion, violin, mandolin, and trumpet

Tarantella Napoletana 

-Italian weddings, festivals and celebrations would never be the same without the dance of the Tarantella. Legend states that between the 15th and 17th centuries an epidemic of tarantism “tarantismi” swept through the town of Taranto. With its lively and graceful tempos, the Tarantella Dance can be considered a mix of gracefulness and fast movements, and an added string of passionate gestures. Its origin dates back to the Middles Ages.

Pizzica 

-Traditional dance born in Apulia 

-Strictly linked to the collective participation to the phenomenon of tarantismo

-After being bitten by the tarantula the person lived a moment of shock and music was the only system to come out of it

-Musicians played for the person, who danced until the effect of poison was destroyed

-This dance became a village affair and everyone danced with pizzicato

-Dancing the pizzica was a movement of freedom and abandonment, viewed by many with a positive sense of liberation 

    Italian folk music has a deep and complex history. Because national unification came late to the Italian peninsula, the traditional music of its many hundreds of cultures. Each region and community possess a unique musical tradition that reflects the history, language, and ethnic composition of that particular locale.

-Italian folk styles are very diverse, and include monophonic, polyphonic, and responsorial song, choral, instrumental and vocal music, and other styles. 

-Choral singing and polyphonic song forms are primarily found in northern Italy, while south of Naples

-Solo singing is more common, and groups usually use unison singing in two or three parts carried by a single performer.

-Northern ballad-singing is syllabic, with a strict tempo and intelligible lyrics, while southern styles use a rubato tempo, and a strained, tense vocal style. 

-Folk musicians use the dialect of their own regional tradition; this rejection of the standard Italian language in folk song is nearly universal.

Songs 

    Italian folk songs include ballads, lyrical songs, lullabies and children's songs, seasonal songs based around holidays like Christmas, life-cycle songs that celebrate weddings, baptisms and other important events, dance songs, cattle calls and occupational songs, tied to professions such as fishermen, shepherds and soldiers

Ballads and lyrics songs are two important categories!

-Ballads are most common in northern Italy, while lyric songs prevail further south.

-Ballads are closely tied to the English form, with some British ballads existing in exact correspondence with an Italian song. Other Italian ballads are more closely based on French models.

-Lyric songs are a diverse category that consist of lullabies, serenades and work songs, and are frequently improvised though based on a traditional repertoire.

Anna De Filippo. "Traditional Dances in Italy - Life in Italy". Life in Italy, 2018, https://lifeinitaly.com/traditional-dances-in-italy-2/. Accessed 12 May 2022.

Music of Italy, www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/m/Music_of_Italy.htm.